Entwined
by Breina
Summary: Essentially this is what happens when Zexion isn't so dead as everyone thought. This is going to be a yaoi so if you have problems with male/male pairings now would be the time to hit the back button. btw, don't expect it to follow the story exactly.
1. Chapter 1

"Vexen? Lexaeus? Zexion?" A soft voice carried through the empty castle. The owner had never been here before but when he'd received the news he couldn't just let it pass without confirming it for himself. Marluxia and Larxene had never been very nice to him but the others…they weren't that bad. Zexion had always been polite, even helpful, Vexen somewhat similarly, though he was more prone to getting mad at the poor water elemental, and Lexaeus was easily the kindest of the entire organization. Axel was his buddy but he was kind of mean and lately he seemed very distant and distracted. He still had his sitar but he was lonely and starting to feel the pressure of the other members scorn. So…somehow he had ended up here, looking for traces of those few members he held some fondness for. He just couldn't believe that those 3 had truly disappeared. Vexen was always so smart, Zexion was far to clever to have let himself just fade away and Lexaeus was so strong, there was just no way.

Normally, he didn't really question what the superior told him but something was calling him here, something that made him sure that some life still had to linger in this castle. He slipped through hallway after hallway with no response until he thought he heard a whisper on one of the higher levels. He felt excitement tighten his chest, he recognized that voice! He picked up his pace, trying to pin point where the sound had come from. He heard it once again from a room just ahead. He was running by now, almost slamming into the wall as he skidded into a dark room. His eyes scanned the room, but saw no one.

Had he been hallucinating? It was empty other than what he recognized as- excitement stirred again- Zexion's Lexicon! "Zex-" He stumbled over to the table, hesitating for a moment before picking up the book and running a hand gently over the cover. He heard the voice once again, weak but still the same. *Don't-* He yelped as the book in his hands started to glow and then begin to morph into a familiar form. Once the transformation was complete, instead of holding the Lexicon he was cradling a small body. He was shocked by how bad Zexion looked. He was thing, more so than was healthy, paler than snow, and most obvious was the ugly red finger marks stretching across his neck. "What the?..." This couldn't be from the keyblade master could it?

Drawing Demyx here seemed to have drained what little strength the schemer had. He set the other man so he was sitting upright on the table and cupped his hand as he conjured up a handful of water, which he eased in-between the pale cracked lips. A little more life seemed to show in the other mans dull eyes. "What happened?" Zexion seemed to take a few moments to process the question, though his eyes darkened immediately in the grip of a powerful and unpleasant memory. He opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn't seem to produce a sound loud enough for the water elemental to hear anymore. Or perhaps he had never been able to. Now that Demyx thought about it those whispers, especially the first, he should have never been able to hear. Zexion had somehow put himself inside his Lexicon, there was no way he could of actually spoken. And now he couldn't seem to evoke that other form of communication. Unsurprisingly, there was a great deal of frustration in the other's eyes.

He carefully poured a few more handfuls of water down Zexion's throat before he seemed somewhat stabilized. "I'm going to go get someone else, you stay here." However stupid telling someone who hadn't the strength to even sit up on his own to not move may be, it just sort of came out automatically. He set Zexion down and turned away to open a portal, only to feel a surprisingly tight grip on his arm. He turned down to stare at the weak man who had somehow gathered up this strength.

"Don't…tell anyone…" Though soft, Zexion's voice held a strong tone of desperation. Demyx stared at the firm expression on his superiors face and wavered. Don't tell anyone? Why couldn't he tell anyone? He leaned forward as Zex started speaking again, but all he caught was "-Yourself" It took some pondering, but Demyx figured that Zex wanted him to help Zexion on his own. Which was…baffling. Zexion could recover so much more quickly with the help of the more skilled organization members. "Demyx!" Demyx jumped, rocked out of his thoughts by the strong tone. "You must not tell…my life…and that of the…organization…" Zexion's breathing was starting to become labored.

Demyx hastily moved to stop him from pushing himself any more. "Don't worry! I won't tell anyone, I swear!" Well shit, now he'd said he wouldn't, and he never went back on his word if he could help it. He rubbed the back of his head and sighed, looking down at his now unconscious companion. That last bit had been too much. He put a hand over his eyes and took a few easy breaths. "Alright Demyx…you can do this…" Planning and secrecy was _far_ from his strong point, but for the sake of his promise he'd do his best. He started pacing as he sorted through his options. "okay…first problem…here or there?" The thought of leaving Zexion here alone once more gave Demyx a queasy feeling, so he decided against it. He'd have to hide Zexion in his room somehow then. He groaned, man this was getting so complicated so fast. What was going on?!

"Well…first things first I guess." It was late and Demyx had actually snuck his way out, so he could be fairly sure that no one else would be up. That was one very small problem solved; he could at least get Zexion to his room without anything being noticed. Rather than trying to burn out his brain planning any more at the moment, he picked up the unconscious man and slipped through the portal into his room, placing the sleeping nobody onto his bed for the moment. Here came up yet another dilemma. So now that he had him back here, how was he gonna keep him hidden. And more importantly where was he gonna sleep if he gave Zexion the bed. He dropped his head and shoulder and sighed. "man…this is just so _complicated_." Normally he'd get flashcards for this or something sheesh.

He started pacing again, punctuated by mutters and arm waving as he tried to figure out what he was going to do. In amongst his internal (and sometimes not so internal) ranting he realized that Zexion was shaking in his sleep. He went over and reached out, finding that the other nobody was practically freezing. Demyx realized that not just was the other nobody malnourished by he was probably sick. "Oh man…" He panicked for a few moments before he managed to calm himself down. Okay, so…he was freezing, he needed to wrap him up in blankets. Once he did that Zexion seemed a bit more comfortable, but was still fairly cold to the touch. There was only one other thing Demyx could do really. He sweatdropped, a bit of red coming to his face though his greatest worry was that Zexion was going to kill him for it. Mentally muttering a prayer to kingdom hearts he stripped Zexion down to pretty much just his boxers and did the same for himself before slipping in next to him and wrapping the covers tightly around them both. Demyx wrapped his arms around Zexion, still silently praying for his life, and shivered against the cold. Thankfully he could feel the other starting to warm up, and soon the mutual shivering stopped. Sometime after that Demyx slipped into sleep despite his attempts to stay awake.

"Demyx…" Demyx didn't immediately respond to the voice next to his ear, instead rather sleepily pulling the warm body next to him closer, nuzzling someone's hair rather contently."Demyx!" His eyes snapped open at once, the tone of the other voice rather like a slap in the face.

"…Zexion!" Meeting the now much more lively eyes of the cloaked schemer he almost killed himself as he scrambled away and out of the bed, the tangled blankets dragging poor Zexion down with him. "I'msorryi'msorry!" Only Demyx could crush words together so well. He cringed back, afraid to see the anger he was sure on Zexion's face.

"…What are you doing?" To Demyx's surprise Zexion just sounded rather resigned. Not that he wasn't obviously annoyed, but he didn't smack Demyx or something. "Don't just lie there..." Now his tone was more frustrated. "put me back on the bed." Demyx flushed at his lapse of common sense and hastily helped the weak nobody back onto the bed. It made him want to cry a little at how painfully weak Zexion was, but the expression on the others face made it obvious that Zexion needed no extra reminders of his own weakness. So somehow he kept his composure. With Zexion now propped up and wrapped comfortably in Demyx's bed and blankets he realized that he was still in his underwear. Flushing a bit he hastily pulled on some jeans and a t-shirt. Zexion almost seemed amused by his antics, which was a relief for the nervous nocturne. "I don't suppose you managed to prepare something for me to eat." More of a statement than a question, Demyx winced. He'd been more concerned about warming Zexion up than feeding him, and now it was going to be slightly more challenging to get something.

"Calm down Demyx." Demyx looked over and was surprised to see no hint of disapproval or annoyance in the other's eyes. "Just take it easy and act casual." Demyx realized that he was being given advice for getting the food, and felt a wave of relief crash over him. He didn't have to worry about planning anything now, Zexion was awake and _he_ would take care of everything. Demyx just had to do what he was told. Since he did that all the time that was hardly a problem. He flashed Zexion a cheery smile and salute before snatching his cloak up and heading outside. His relief was great enough he didn't even seem that nervous around the others, though the longer he was out of his room the more nervous he became.

He moved towards the kitchen in a quick but casual manner, letting out a squeak as a hand clamped down on his shoulder. He turned around to see Axel and let his racing (supposedly nonexistent) heart beat slow. "A-Axel! Don't scare me like than man jesh!" He received a rather amused but curious stare from redhead.

"Well aren't you all jumpy today?" Demyx knew he had to think fast and wracked his brain for a good explanation.

"Er…Xiggy's decided I'm his new play toy so yeah…" That sounded somewhat reasonable at least. Xiggy enjoyed making mischief, and with his powers he had a pathetically easy time of doing exactly that. He chuckled rather nervously and scratched the back of his head. Axel seemed to take what he said at face value, laughing and giving Demyx another smack on the shoulder.

"Sucks to be you man!" And with that he strolled off, probably to go hang out with his new buddy. For a second Demyx felt somewhat depressed at the thought, but remembering Zexion waiting for him he shook it off and marched his way into the kitchen. And almost dropped dead when he walked in and almost slammed into, yeah you guessed it, Xiggy. "X-Xigbar! S-Sorry!" He backed up and scooted out of the others way, but Xigbar didn't seem much inclined to move as he stared at the water elemental with a curious expression on his face. Demyx tried to not look like he was about ready to faint as the other leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"I hear you snuck out last night." Demyx almost died on the spot.

"U-Uh…" Xigbar laughed and poor Demyx got another good smack on the shoulder.

"Never thought you had it in you!" Wait, seriously? Demyx stared after II as he cheerfully walked past and headed down the hall for his own room. Demyx couldn't quite believe his luck. Apparently Xiggy didn't know about Zexion, and was impressed at his nerve. He found himself starting to relax a little. He'd fended off two people in the space of as many minutes; perhaps he could actually do this! Once again buoyed by his natural cheerfulness he strolled into the kitchen, thankful that it was empty now, and quickly grabbed a bunch of the more snack like foods, stuffing them in pockets and various other places so while he had quite a bit on him it hardly looked like he had anything at all. People tended to underestimate Demyx but when he put his mind to something he was perfectly intelligent. He was just lazy. Now loaded down he made it back to his room without any more serious incidents. He'd passed by Saix along the way, but with nerves of steel he didn't know he had he just nodded to the other and kept on going without hardly a change of expression.

Safely back inside his room, he resisted the urge to lean back against the door and sigh in relief. He could do that after he removed all the food and wouldn't crush any of it. He brushed off the table that he normally composed music on and started unloading. He could Zexion's expression out of the corner of his eye and couldn't help but grin. It seemed he was surprised by the amount that Demyx had managed to come back with. Zexy would be taken care of for a couple days at least. He shuffled through the packages and handed Zexion a couple granola bars while he moved the table closer to the bed so even though Zexion couldn't really move around on his own he could still get to the food if Demyx wasn't there. Which unfortunately would be pretty soon. Several organization members' maybe dead, but business still went on as usual inside the organization. He didn't get it, but he couldn't do anything about it either.

"There!" Demyx smiled proudly at his set up, like a little child finishing their first project in elementary. He glanced over at Zexion, who was somehow unwrapping a granola bar perfectly fine while not looking at it. Though he was looking vaguely in Demyx's direction, it was obvious that he was turned completely inward, brooding on something. The look in his eye's made Demyx shiver a little. It hadn't been there before. Demyx had to wonder just what had happened. It seemed that Zexion was strong enough to really hold a conversation now, but he had to leave for his recon mission. "Um…" Zexion didn't even seem to notice he'd spoken. "Zexion?" Finally the eyes focused on him. "uh, I have to head out for recon…"

"Then do so…I will be fine here until you return." How could he be so _calm?_ Demyx boggled a bit as he headed for the door, pausing just before he opened it. He felt like he should say something.

"I'll be back as quick as I can." And with that he was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Zexion closed his eyes and leaned back with a soft sigh of relief. His weakness did not making holding his usual emotional mask any easier. And he couldn't let it crack in front of the sensitive water elemental. He needed Demyx, which meant he had to be as calm and supportive as possible, since he'd put such a heavy task on shoulders not really suited for things like secrecy. That was well, Zexion's forte. It was hard though, what he really wanted was to rant, rage, and most of all, destroy those who had turned against him. His revenge would have to wait until he recovered though, and until then… he would wait patiently, recover, and of course, scheme. They would rue the day they had turned their most loyal member against them.

He leaned back against the soft pillows and closed his eyes, munching on the granola bar with restraint, knowing he'd just make himself sick again if he ate too quickly. He wasn't quite sure how long he'd been held in relative stasis inside his Lexicon but he had been in such horrible condition when he'd entered that it would have been impossible to tell. Once inside he ever so slowly gained enough energy to call the one person he knew he could trust to castle oblivion. Demyx. Once again, not his first choice for something like this but he knew of no other that would help him and keep him a secret for sure. He knew Axel, and he knew that someone else was behind the bastard, most likely Xemnas and Saix. That knocked 3 people out immediately. Xigbar may or may not be trustworthy. His other founding companions…well Xaldin was a bit too loyal, and Xigbar, unpredictable. Luxord well…He wasn't even going to start on Luxord. Nor Roxas.

He had to plan carefully; taking on the entire organization was no easy task. Just as well the noisy one was out and not left to fret over him. Absently he grabbed another bar, opened it, and started chewing. With every bite he could feel strength returning to his limbs. He was trying to focus on other things, but for some reason this time the thought of Demyx was persisting on lingering in his mind. Instead of moving its way through complex schemes it seemed determined to examine every detail of the rather…uncomfortable situation he'd ended up in this morning. He knew, logically, that Demyx had…He grimaced. He couldn't even hold a steady train of thought. He gave up on it for the moment and let his mind wander where it would. Free of his restraining hand it just went blank. He was puzzled, but at least he had some peace. Now that the almost painful demanding from his stomach had been sated, he could feel himself starting to drift off once again. He considered resisting, but there was really no point. He was weak and the fastest way to regain his strength was to sleep.

He had no illusions that he would recover quickly as it was, no reason to slow himself down any more. When he awoke again he was aware of the soft sound of breathing next to him, and realized that one side of him was warmer than the other. He let his eyes drift open to rest on the nobody deeply asleep next to him, sprawled half over the edge of the bed in an attempt to not bother Zexion while he was sleeping. Almost before he'd realized it an amused smile slipped its way onto his face, which he quickly turned into a frown. Him, smiling, what was the world coming to? It must be because of his weakness. He jerked his eyes away from Demyx and focused them on the ceiling. Unlike earlier today he was finding it within his power to concentrate. He dropped into brooding in the space of a second. The chains of his weak body would only hold him so long, and once that time came he had to have a plan. His eyes drifted over to the one next to him again and he felt a strange sensation, which he ignored. Though Initially Demyx had been chosen purely on the fact that he was the best tool for the job, Zexion was finding himself hesitating to use the boy in ways he normally wouldn't.

His face creased with a expression of irritation, what was wrong with him? Did he pity the boy? Foolishness, they were nobodies, any feelings he might think he was feeling were lies. With that familiar litany Zexion managed to find some calm once again. He turned his mind to the members of the organization, examining the traits of each in perspective of his eventual plan to take out the organization. He was really only after a specific 3, but eliminating only those would leave him with dangerous enemies waiting in the wings, so he must take care of them all. Another strange sensation passed through him and he felt something correct automatically –not Demyx-. He closed his eyes for a moment, though he couldn't help but still be totally aware of the boy next to him. Without realizing it he nodded his head. Yes, Demyx would be spared. This loyal pawn, the only one he could trust. He reached over the sleeping nobody and grabbed a bag of chips, slowly and carefully opening it so as to not disturb the sleeper. He almost thought he managed it when he heard a sleepy murmur. "Zexy?" Zexion did a double take. Did he just call him Zexy?

Sleepy light blue eyes opened to meet his. "You're awake…do you need anything?.." The question was punctuated with a large yawn.

"I'm fine Demyx." Demyx couldn't have realized what he'd called Zexion or he'd be much more nervous. Zexion didn't feel the need to point it out. "How was your mission?"

Demyx seemed to wake up a bit more and groaned. "It was horrible…they sent me to some ridiculously hot sandbox to do recon…There was this damn talking bird that almost caught me at least 5 times and a big blue thing that was almost as bad and it was so HOT!" He continued on much the same vein for quite so time. Zexion really had to wonder at the logic of sending their water elemental to a desert, but obviously he and Xemnas didn't see eye to eye to begin with. He made all the appropriate sympathetic sounds at the right moments, though he wasn't really paying attention. Demyx just liked to talk, and the relevance of what he said was decreasing by the second. It was only after several minutes of silence did Zexion realized the other had stopped talking just to stare at him. A second later he corrected that statement. Demyx was staring at the ugly burn marks on his throat. "Zexion what…happened to you?"

Zexion pressed his lips together, anger slipping into his eyes despite his attempt to maintain something of a cool mask. "A traitor tried to kill me Demyx." Instantly the other man's face was filled with horror.

"Someone from the organization?! Who?!"

Zexion suppressed a sigh. "I can't tell you that right now Demyx, it's not safe. Just know that this is the reason I must hide. I can only safely return to the organization when this person is eliminated." It was a half truth, but enough to satisfy Demyx perhaps. The others face showed some understanding, but not a lot. Some things still didn't make sense apparently.

"But…Why can't I at least tell Superior and Saix?" Patience, Zexion, patience, you needed Demyx remember?

"Their lives will be in danger if a certain person is not taken care of first." Complete and utter truth practically. He just failed to mention that it would be threatening their lives. Well sort of, Zexion was never one to do his own dirty work. He would stand behind the organization and pull the strings until it collapsed on top of itself. He almost lost himself in plotting again, but a certain expression on Demyx's face caught his attention. "What is it?"

Demyx looked down for a few moments before a slight flush came to his face. "Um…About last night…Er well you see you were just shivering so bad…I thought you were going to freeze to death!" Zexion blinked, Demyx had been fretting over this all day? He tried to stop a chuckle from escaping his lips and failed. Demyx seemed about ready to faint at the sound, pretty much unheard of before now.

"I know Demyx." There was a ghost of a smile on his face. Which died as he realized he was doing it again. He sighed lightly and let himself relax back once more. "You should go back to sleep Demyx."

"uh but…what about you?"

"I plan to do the same." He kept his eyes closed, proof of his intent to follow through with his word, eventually.

"…Alright."

Demyx knew that he had said he would go back to sleep, but after talking with Zexion he was finding it hard to relax enough to do so. All sorts of thoughts were swirling around in his mind, some more random than others. He was relieved that Zexion didn't seem to mind sharing the bed. He'd returned from the mission so tired, and much as he didn't want to wake Zexy up he…well just sort of stumbled over and passed out, probably from heat exhaustion. Now he tried to think less about the one sleeping next to him and more about his words. A traitor in the organization? That would explain the strange wounds but…burns? That suggested Axel, though that didn't really seem to fit either. Axel well…there would be a lot more burns, and Demyx had…here he blushed a bit...had seen most of Zexion's body, and it was free of more than a few cuts and bruises. His head was starting to hurt already. He closed his eyes tightly and tried to force himself to sleep, still failing miserably.

Finally he gave up and eased carefully off the bed, reaching over and grabbing his sitar, running a hand down the strings for a moment before he started to pluck out a soft tune. Playing his sitar always cleared his mind, it was like everything that was bothering him just sort of melted into the music and wasn't a problem anymore. The pain in his head eased, along with his worries. He trusted Zexion, and knew that whatever the schemer said he needed to do was for the best. He continued playing for almost an hour before he felt settled enough to drift off. Setting the instrument down carefully he laid himself out along his side of the bed, guiltily edging closer to the warmth that the other now presented before finally managing to get back to sleep.

He woke again with the strong feeling that he was being stared at. This was strange since he was al- Zexion! Demyx's eyes snapped open to once again meet a certain pair of icy blue ones. Though this morning they didn't seem so icy. "Morning n-Demyx." Demyx gave Zexion a puzzled look, why had he changed what he was going to say? It occurred to Demyx that Zexion had been referring to him by his name rather than number quite a bit since he had rescued him. A smile spread over his face, perhaps this was a good sign? He mentally had a short out, good sign of what? "Are you alright..Demyx?"

He blinked his eyes and flushed a bit nervously. "Er..yeah I'm fine." He chuckled, though it sounded pretty poor to his ears, so he changed the subject quickly. "So uh, how'd you sleep?" Was that a smile on Zexion's face?

"I slept quite well…" Yep, he had most definitely seen a smile…did that mean Zexy had stayed up to listen to him play? A warm feeling started to feel him, it was a sort of indirect compliment, and no one ever complimented Demyx on his music. He pushed himself up, giving Zexion his best cheery smile. "Need anything?" Zexion closed his eyes and seemed to be deciding on something, he struggled to sit up and Demyx hastily moved to help him move to a more upright position. He realized that while Zexion had explained some things, he hadn't said how he had come to be so weak. He had many wounds for sure, but none of them should be causing him such devastating weakness.

"No…no it can wait." There was a fair bit of pain in the other's eyes.

"Er..are you sure?" What was it he had wanted?

Zexion nodded, his eyes drifting shut once more. "Just hand me another couple of granola bars.." Of the things that Demyx had brought, obviously Zexion preferred those, he made a mental note to grab more while he was out today. He snagged several and placed them in Zexion's lap, next to the chips that he had never gotten around to eating.

"Umm…Zexion…are you going to be okay?" Zexion looked over at him, seeming surprised by the concern before another faint smile showed. "I'll be fine Demyx…I just lack a great deal of my power right now." Power? Demyx was even more confused, but didn't press with any more questions.

"Right…" Demyx left Zexion to slowly nibble on the chewy bar and grabbed some clean clothes before heading into the bathroom to shower and get ready for another day of oh so fun recon. Pulling off the clothes he'd failed to take off the night before he stepped into the shower with a content sigh, letting the water just run over his body for several minutes. He was hiding it well, but he was quite stressed out over this and he could feel the tension easing out of him under the gentle caress of his element. He started to drift off and could almost feel another's hands running over him. His eyes snapped open and he almost hit his head on the shower wall as he jerked his head back up. What the hell had he been daydreaming about?! Feeling a bit flustered once again he finished his shower with a fair bit of haste. The basic necessities of the shower taken care of he dried off, got dressed, and set about the most important part of getting ready, gelling his hair into his trademark style that defied all attempts at categorization. Giving his hair an extra looking over he finally nodded in satisfaction and moved back into his room. Zexion had already gone through two granola bars and was almost done with a third; apparently he was quite hungry this morning. This time it was Demyx's turn to smile fondly at the other.

Zexion looked over, a slightly distant look in his eyes that suggested once again he was just pulling himself out of deep thought. "Oh, Demyx, would you try to pick up a book while you're out?" Almost before Demyx could respond he looked away and seemed to sink back into his dark brooding. Demyx found himself pleased at the request, considering how much brooding Zexion was doing he could use a good book or two to distract him.

"Sure!" Demyx smiled and waved, though as he prepared to brave the organization he had to lie to he could feel all the tension returning. He hesitated at the door, only to jump at Zexion's voice behind him.

"Don't worry, there's no one out there. I would have told you if there was." Demyx let himself relax just a tiny bit; grateful once again that Zexion was being so helpful. "Oh and if you could get me something to drink…" Demyx once again felt like smacking himself upside the head, if Zexion wasn't around to remind him how to take care of him he'd end up killing him. He hastily opened the door and headed down the hallway towards the kitchen, this seemed like it was going to be something of a daily occurrence.


	3. Chapter 3

Zexion's recovery was slow and painful. With no Vexen there was no one trustworthy or of more skill than Demyx to care for him, and with the need of secrecy he was further hampered. As could be expected this was an exceptionally frustrating experience for the schemer who laid there with vengeance burning in his supposedly nonexistent heart. He increasingly dropped into periods of dark brooding, ignoring the books placed in front of him in favor of glaring at the wall. He could tell Demyx was worried, and thus the nobody tried to lighten his mood whenever the other guy was around. He found it surprisingly easy actually. Before Axel's attempt to kill him, he could hardly remember more than an occasion or two where he had smiled, let alone laughed. However, in Demyx's company he was finding this to be a more and more common occurrence. He couldn't quite place it but every time the water elemental stumbled in, ready to share his success in this mission or that, or dejected because of another failure, Zexion found strange things stirring within him. Things that however briefly drove the thoughts of revenge away from him. Things that made relying on Demyx to do some of even the most basic of things for him tolerable.

"Zexion!" Zexion looked up from one of the rare moments when his mind was settled enough for him to read the book he'd asked for. The water elemental had somehow gotten into the room without him noticing, he must have been really involved. He grabbed a bookmark and slid it into the book and pressed it together gently, turning his full attention to the excited Demyx. "Guess what?!" The blonde nobody was practically jumping with excitement and once again one of those rebellious smiles slipped onto his lips.

"What?" Demyx pouted at him, and he could already see how this was going to go.

"Aw come on Zexy, you have to at least _try_ and make a guess!" Who could resist those eyes? Certainly not a certain nobody on the bed. He sighed lightly and shuffled through a few prearranged responses for just this situation.

"You found a kitten?" Demyx gave him an interesting stare and then burst into laughter, which was what Zexion had wanted of course. Zexion had put up an illusion of silence around Demyx's room, something that sadly enough was about all he had the power for, draining his energy and slowing his recovery even more. It was however, necessary for him to remain hidden. Demyx was doing his best but he was sort of loud by nature, and Zexion wasn't referring to his music.

"Zexy…" Demyx whipped the tears of laughter from his eyes. "You make the best guesses." Zexion's eyebrow arched, he did? He hadn't really found a kitten had he? Seeing the slightly worried expression on Zexion's face Demyx broke into another bout of slightly more subdued laughter. "Naw, I didn't find a kitten!" He walked over and ruffled Zexy's hair, earning him a cold 'what the hell are you doing?' glare, which he ignored as he flopped down on his side of the bed and stared up at the ceiling in silence for a while. Now this was probably a ploy on his part, seeing as he'd now piqued Zexion's curiosity. He may not act like it, but anyone with half a brain could figure out that Zexion had a curiosity that would make a cat pale in shame, and this was now coming fully to bear. He resisted it as long as he could, but eventually it got the better of him and he demanded an answer from the absent minded idiot lying next to him.

"Well?" There was just a hint of a snap to his voice, despite his attempt to keep it out. Demyx turned to him with a grin that left him no doubt the nocturne had been doing exactly as he expected.

"I thought you'd never ask!" Zexion felt the strong need to beat his head in with his own book. In an amused sort of way. "Saix said I did good today!" Now he really wanted to beat his head in with his own book. Particularly as he saw another pout coming on in response to his unenthused expression. "Aw come Zexy…you know no one ever says that to me!" Why was he plagued with these ridiculous soft feelings at the worst of times?!

"What did you do today?" He tried to divert the other's attention from his pouting, luckily it worked.

"Weeellll" Demyx grinned and Zexion had a sinking feeling. "I'm not going to tell you." His head met his palm and he sighed heavily, yep, just as he expected. Demyx could be surprisingly stubborn and he wasn't going to press it anymore. Instead he gave the other a cool look and buried himself back in the book he'd been reading before, though his eyes weren't really taking in what was on the page. Once a piece of what he recognized as seasalt ice cream was shoved in his nose he hastily shoved the book away.

"Are you trying to ruin the book?" Zexion grabbed the ice cream, giving Demyx as harsh of look as he dared. Never once in his recuperation did he forget that he needed this man, and that his very life depended on his capabilities. There'd be no helping him if he did something wrong and crushed Demyx's budding confidence and ability.

"I knew you'd get it out of the way in time." Demyx waved a hand nonchalantly, not being particularly worried about books on the best of days anyway.

As time passed by Demyx grew more and more confident, almost relaxed. He found that he enjoyed knowing that the nobody relied on him, trusted him, and Demyx was finding that he really enjoyed the others company. Before he rescued him, Demyx couldn't even remember seeing Zexion really smile before, let alone laugh or seem to enjoy himself. He did all these things before…but there had been a bitter or malicious tone to them. Now it was just honest enjoyment. Most of the time. There were times when Demyx looked into those cool blue eyes and felt a twinge in his chest, a sudden cold realization that kind of made him hope that Zexion never got completely better. He knew, deep down, that once that day came, when Zexion decided he had recovered sufficiently to go through with whatever plans he had made, that this easy relationship they had would change forever. And he was desperately afraid that he wouldn't like it. Demyx was not stupid, contrary to popular belief. He knew that sometimes the only look Zexion had for him was that of a pawn, a piece on his chess board, but every time he smiled or laughed for Demyx, he knew he didn't care. It couldn't all be a lie right? And even if it was…for a little while he could be happy. Happy knowing that he was helping someone he cared about, and that that person sometimes…even briefly, gave him smiles and laughs that were his alone. Demyx had fallen somewhere down the line, and had fallen hard. Perhaps even before this, and now there was no going back. All he could do was give his all for this one person.

"Roxas left today." Demyx was very tired as he returned to his room that day. Everyone had been sent searching for him, to no avail. He suspected that Axel might of actually found him, but obviously Axel wasn't about to turn him in. And Demyx…well considering what Demyx was already doing, he wasn't about to turn his suspicions into the others either. That and the fact he'd been paired with Xaldin in the search…well Demyx had had plenty of stress for one day. He was happy to see Zexion in a chair today, rather than the bed he'd been confined to for so long. This also left the bed conveniently empty for Demyx to just drop down on and groan while Zexion chewed through the news that Demyx had brought him. Every day Zexion would quiz him on the events of the day and how the relationships in the organization were developing. In his more morbid moments he had to wonder just who was fooling who here. He knew Zexy didn't want this information out of pure curiosity and more often than not Demyx had to wrestle with his loyalties and conscience. In the end he did nothing but kept giving Zexion the information he wanted.

"And I take it you did not find him?" Demyx closed his eyes and sighed.

"He's long gone by now I'm sure. I rather suspect Axel either helped or was at least there when it happened, but he would hardly tell me where Roxas has gone." What little friendship might of remained between the two was crushed by the distance that Axel now put between himself and all other members. Thinking of Zexion, Demyx had to wonder about the redheads own relationship with the boy. He'd always suspected but…if they'd really gotten to that level then Roxas wouldn't have left right? Or maybe Roxas really was that cruel. "Everyone was pulled in to search for him…Xemnas is…" He shuddered a bit. Xemnas had been in quite the fury that their pet keyblade holder had left. With Xion also gone and Sora MIA there was no longer a keyblade bearer to do the organizations bidding. "I think…I'm going to be gone a lot more." The organizations priority now had to be to find Sora or Roxas before any more progress could be made. With Xemnas more desperate, the time he would be able to devote to Zexion would be very small. He might even be gone for days at a time.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Zexion put his book away and slowly stand up, something a few weeks ago he would have been incapable of doing. It lifted and wrung his heart at the same time. He watched the careful progress across the room before the schemer sat down on the bed next to him with a reassuring smile, reaching out and brushing a few stray strands of hair out of Demyx's face. Demyx couldn't help the surprised expression at the other's actions, and a surge of hope which he quickly pushed away. It was just Zexion…Zexion doing something… "Don't worry Demyx…I am strong enough to provide for myself should you get sent off for a long mission." Did he detect a trace of worry in Zexion's eyes? "In the meantime you should get some rest…today has obviously been very stressful for you." He was! He was worried about him! Demyx smiled tiredly into the surprisingly warm blue eyes.

"Only if you lay here and hold me." Those other eyes widened for a second. While they had been technically sharing a bed for quite some time now after that first night Demyx had carefully kept his distance, as per Zexion's wishes. They might as well of been in two separate rooms, though on occasion he'd wake to find himself wrapped around the blue haired nobody and fervently grateful that Zexion slept so deeply in his weakness. Never had Zexion initiated a touch and after that brief brush of his fingers Demyx found himself wanting more. He cursed himself for asking though, fearing that he had truly put his foot in it this time. To his surprise a slight smile, his special smile, made a brief appearance before Zexion laid himself out next to him, pulling the other nobody into a gentle embrace. Demyx couldn't quite believe it, his tiny voice of cynicism warred with his natural optimism as to the true motive behind the other's actions. He wished that he could trust the feelings he wished to but it was so hard to tell with Zexion.

"Better?" He shivered a bit at the soft voice in his ear, glad Zexion couldn't see the slight flush that spread across his face.

"M-Much better…" Demyx found that he was tense, his own thoughts ruining an experience that he should be savoring every moment of. He closed his eyes and forced his body to relax, which he found to be terribly easy with the arms around him once he stopped working himself up. As soon as he relaxed he felt himself dropping off into the abyss of sleep, burnt out more than perhaps either of them had realized.

Zexion had been more than surprised at the sudden request of the tired nocturne, though he found that it didn't bother him like it should have. He didn't even know what possessed him to walk over and comfort Demyx in the first place, so naturally he was somewhat confused when he found himself sliding onto the bed fully and wrapping an arm around the other, pulling him in close. He noticed that Demyx was tense for some reason and felt another one of those strange twinges that he had been suffering from more and more often recently. What was wrong with him? And Demyx for that matter? Trying to figure it out seemed to be a lost cause however, and once Demyx relaxed and seemed to drift off, the slight pain in his chest eased. He considered slipping away and returning to his book but the whimper that sounded as he tried to pull away melted any ideas of going anywhere. Unaware of the fond smile that had snuck its way onto his face once again; he instead pulled the other man closer and let his own eyes drift closed. For the first time since Axel came and tried to kill him with the replica, he didn't see glowing green eyes when he closed his own.


	4. Chapter 4

As Demyx feared, he was soon sent out on a mission that would keep him away for several days and Zexion was left to his own devices. As with everything lately, Zexion found he had mixed emotions on this. The colder normal side of him was grateful to have Demyx gone, he who caused all of these distractions and confusing emotions in the schemer. While, naturally, those same confusing emotions (emotions? He couldn't feel!) missed Demyx a great deal. So while the two sides of him sorted each other out, he paced around the nocturnes now abnormally neat bedroom. He'd obviously already enforced a minimum of neatness while he was staying there, and once Demyx was gone his restlessness drove him to give it a good going over. And now he had nothing to do but read, which was out of the question with so little focus. Finally he had enough. He closed his eyes and firmly banished those pesky emotions, pulling his old mask on by force. Feeling the cold settle over him he let out a soft sigh of relief, now he could think. Opening his eyes he looked towards the door, tilting his head slightly as he considered his options. He was now strong enough to gather his own provisions, perhaps it was time to start putting his plan in motion. He cracked the door open, holding a cloak of invisibility around him as he stepped out and shut the door behind him. It took only a few moments to ascertain who remained in the castle. There weren't many, Xemnas and Saix of course, Xigbar and Luxord. Oh where to start. He would have to make a point to avoid Xemnas, who might just see through his illusions, but everyone else was fair game.

On second thought, perhaps it would be well to avoid Saix too. His loyalties were fairly strong to begin with. Once he got some food, he perhaps would go pay a visit to Xigbar. Ghosting down the corridor, he made a brief detour to avoid Saix and Xemnas, who seemed to be discussing something. He slipped into the shadows and listened for a few moments but they were merely discussing a few upcoming missions, only mildly useful information at best. He took note and filed it away anyway, he'd have a fair idea of when a few people were going to be in and out for the castle, including Demyx. At least with the shortage Demyx wouldn't be getting partnered up anytime soon. He frowned, wondering how the blonde could worm his way into Zexion's thoughts at any moment. Pushing aside the image of a certain pair of sea green eyes, he turned and continued on his way to the kitchen. Luxord was in there, just his luck. Of course the gambler would be in his way. And he was really looking forward to a proper meal. Debating for a moment, he located Xigbar, he seemed a safe distance away. A slight smile crossed his lips, not the one that Demyx invoked, but his old malicious one. The air around him shimmered for a moment and a second later he took on Xigbar's form, and then strolled into the kitchen. Luxord raised an eyebrow at him. "I thought you were going to train?"

Xigbar/Zexion grinned. "I almost pinned Saix so the superior got a bit annoyed." He shrugged. "So I decided to get a snack." He strode past the gambler at the table who now had an amused look on his face, though Zexion was hardly going to let his guard down. The gambler could be quite intelligent when he chose to be, though Zexion did have the advantage of being 'dead'. He flipped through the cabinets briefly, seeing that little had changed while he was locked away in that room. Although it was probably more like lunch time, he decided he wanted some waffles and eggs. He was probably pushing his luck, making a full meal, but perhaps he had a bit more in common with the gambler than he realized. He ignored the eyes that followed him around the kitchen and mixed up his waffle mix, setting that up and pulling out the eggs. The gambler finally seemed to get bored and went back to his little card game. Zexion let the soothing smells of the foods he was cooking wash over him and relaxed.

He was just scraping the eggs onto his plate next to the waffles when a twirl of scent finally made its way through the strong scents of the foods he'd just cooked. Xigbar. Naturally he'd taken his own personal shortcut. He finished dumping the eggs and poured syrup over both things on his plate before turning around, completely unconcerned at the Nobody hanging down from the ceiling pointing his guns at him, and the baffled look Luxord was tossing between them. "You should have come sooner, Xigbar, I might have fixed you something."

The man hanging from the ceiling arched an eyebrow and grinned, flipping in midair and landing a few feet from the other nobody who was now nonchalantly cutting up his waffles and neatly eating with one hand, resisting the urge to scarf the food down. Oh how he had missed stuff other than chips and granola bars. Demyx had on rare occasions snuck him something of dinner, but they were just snatches of food and only made him crave this more. "You've got quite the nerve, masquerading as me."

"What? Should I have been Xemnas or Saix instead? I don't think so Xigbar." The real Xigbar was staring at him, with one eye, very intently. He was no fool, for all he liked to play pranks and pop out of the ceiling to scare the crap out of people. Zexion felt no need to give away anymore by continuing to speak; instead he focused on enjoying his food while he still could. Despite eating in his usual neat manner, he could clear a plate faster than you would think. He kept an eye on Xigbar though, who seemed very intent on figuring out the puzzle that was his doppelganger, since Zexion proved to be 'friendly' so far. Finally he saw the widening of Xigbar's eyes and quickly wrapped him in an illusion before he could give the game away to Luxord. With any luck after a little chat, he would be able to convince Xigbar to stay silent about his visit. While to Luxord's eyes the two merely continued to stare at each other, inside the illusion they faced each other down.

"Zexion…I thought you were dead." Xigbar ignored the fact that he had apparently been transported to some formless dark plane. With no more reason to hide, Zexion showed his true self inside the illusion. He placed a hand to his head for a moment and then quirked a wiry smile.

"It was a very close thing, but I had measures in place." The almost smug tone from Zexion evoked a short surprised laugh from Xigbar.

"Ha! Of course you did, you scheming bastard. We all should have known better." Xigbar's eye's would have narrowed, if he had two of them, instead the one just moved more towards his nose. "So why haven't you shown up until now and pretending to be me no less?"

Zexion tilted his head back slightly, slowing a glimpse of his other eye as he seemed to be silently laughing at the freeshooter, though no sound was released. "Hmm, I wonder why?"

Xigbar stared at him with a few hints of irritation showing, Zexion's schemes and cloaked words were never one of his favorite things. "Stop playing around book boy."

Zexion made a play at innocence and naturally failed miserably. That was more Demyx's thing. "Why Xigbar, how rude, I was merely presenting you a chance to think it over for a few moments."

"you're in no position to be playing games Zexion. Even trapped in this illusion I could still nail you." Xigbar was losing what little patience he had.

Zexion feigned a soft sigh, he really should stop if he planned to get Xigbar's cooperation at all. "The one who attempted to kill me, and the one who ordered it, still reside safely in the organization's arms." Now, there weren't exactly a lot of people left in the organization. If you ignored Demyx, Xigbar, and Luxord, that really didn't leave many people.

"So…you are here for revenge then." It was more of a statement than a question.

"It does seem to follow." Zexion's natural sarcastic personality couldn't be contained; luckily Xigbar was also a fan of sarcasm. He actually cracked something of a smile at that.

"So let me guess, you're looking for help?" Xigbar was never one for poker faces, it was why he lost to Luxord so much. Well other than Luxord obviously cheated. This time however, Zexion couldn't quite read him, or his motives. It made him slightly edgy.

"Perhaps. Just your silence would be sufficient." Ah, and what was he to do about Luxord? He'd have to put on a show he supposed. Hopefully Xiggy would help. He watched the other intently, keeping his expression free of any emotion. Xiggy seemed to be debating, and knowing him, he was probably weighing entertainment values. Xigbar was just a bit strange like that.

Finally a familiar grin crossed his face. "Alright, I may provide you some assistance." Zexion had made sure to keep his plans for the superior a secret, merely implying that he was just after Saix and Axel. Honestly, after all this time brooding, he was starting to question some of the assumptions that he had made towards the involvement of Xemnas in this. Talking with Demyx about what had happened in the organization, it may have just been a ploy of power between Saix and Axel, who had been somewhat friends until Roxas came along. But the question was, how attached was Xemnas to his second in command. And after seeing them walk in the hallway today…Zexion was pretty sure when it came to the superior; Zexion would lose to Saix any day. So much for that. "Yo, earth to book boy, keep staring at me like that and I'm gonna think you want to kiss me."

Startled out of his darker thoughts, and down a more humorous path that ended with, naturally, Demyx, a tiny bit of a blush appeared on Zexion's face. He firmly told it to disappear. "Do me a favor Xigbar, when I release the illusion, make up something and shoot me."

"Say wha-" Xigbar blinked, suddenly realizing what Zexion was up to. He chuckled softly. "Always schemin'…yeah sure, but you better get outta there mister or things are gonna be real dull around here again." Zexion gave him a 'you seriously think I would let you shoot me?' look and let the illusion drop. That particular one anyway. At the same time he quickly started moving. Though it may of seemed like a while, they had only been staring at each other for a couple seconds it seemed to Luxord before all hell broke loose. Xiggy smirked at Zexion, giving him the few seconds warning he would need. "I don't think so, bastard." Zexion, in the few seconds, had apparently anticipated this and had acted like he was going to reach for something other than the fork on his plate. He hated to waste what he hadn't managed to eat, but there wasn't much left and sacrifices had to be made. In the end he tossed the plate at Xigbar, who dodged it and let it instead crash into an unlucky Luxord before opening fire. Zexion darted for the door, still covered in his disguise. Carefully aimed bullets just barely missed him, and once Xigbar figured out that the him he saw was actually another illusion and the actual Zexion was…somewhere, he didn't bother holding back. He let loose a full round of artillery and the clone/illusion disappeared. He could now legitimately say he chased down the intruded until they retreated to some place he couldn't follow. Which was of course, what the other was going for.

While Xiggy chased his clone out of the room, Zexion made a more sedate exit, using his illusion to keep him from being seen once again. He made his way back to Demyx's room, having caused enough of an uproar for one day. He slipped inside and sat down in his usual chair with an unusually pleased smile. Today had been very successful he thought, he was looking forward to making more progress once this little storm he stirred up settled down. He trusted Xiggy's interest to keep him from turning back on his word, and regardless he had made sure that Xiggy knew only what was necessary. For all Xigbar knew Zexion was hiding out in castle oblivion. Regardless of the way he played, Zexion was still totally safe.


	5. Chapter 5

As could be expected, there was a good bit of unease in the organization about the intruder who could apparently enter and leave their castle as he pleased, and impersonate at least Xigbar. It could be safely assumed that he could do so for anyone else as well. After a brief conference with the members remaining in the castle Xemnas decided to call back the ones on missions to help scour the castle. And of course, never being one to pass up a chance to hear himself speak, to hold a meeting to discuss the danger.

"We must find this intruder and eliminate him." There was relief obvious in the room as Xemnas finished his long explanation and speech. One person however was more amused than relieved.

As Xemnas finished his speech Xigbar let out a sharp bark of laughter. "Eliminate them? For fixing some food?" It was often said that Xiggy never knew when to be serious, and this was definitely evidence in his favor.

Xemnas fixed Xigbar with a cold glare. "May I remind you II that this intruder attacked you and X." There was another bark of laughter at this. Coming back to the kitchen to see Luxord covered in Syrup and eggs was one of his new favorite memories. Luxord still hadn't managed to get all that out of his hair and was looking less than his perfect self. Of anyone Xigbar just seemed Immune to Xemnas' wrath. Xemnas wisely decided to ignore the amused free shooter and turned to the rest of the organization. "Search the castle and report back here in an hour, report any suspicious activity immediately." And with that they dispersed. No one noticed that Demyx seemed to be a bit more nervous than usual, and more eager to do work than he normally was. Xaldin seemed to be somewhere between annoyed and amused himself as he left to check out his designated area. Axel seemed a bit excited about the idea of a fight, though hunting around the castle did not fit into his idea of an enjoyable day. Luxord was definitely annoyed, he was still in very desperate need of cleaning and he just knew everyone was snickering at him behind his back. Xemnas of course, simply returned to his quarters while Saix set about actually doing something for once.

Xigbar chuckled to himself before poofing off to his own section. He was pretty confident that if Zexion was still around for some reason, he still wouldn't be caught. No one had a nose like book boy. A flash of Demyx's nervous face came to his mind and he pondered Demyx's strange behavior for a moment. He remembered that one night that Demyx had snuck out. "Hmm.." Xigbar mused on it for awhile and grinned. "That dog!" Zexion had perhaps underestimated Xigbar, luckily he had no intention of turning on Zexion just yet.

Demyx, in a surprisingly smart move, actually managed to restrain himself from running strait to Zexy and panicking. Perhaps all that careful attention on Zexion's part was paying off. He couldn't act still, but luckily no one commented on it. Demyx was always acting a bit weird. He made a token effort to check the area he was assigned to, knowing very well who the 'intruder' was, and that he was almost certainly just chilling out in Demyx's room, smug and without a care. Finally he reported back and escaped to his room to figure out what the heck Zexion was doing. He opened his door quickly and shoved it closed with a tired sigh, leaning back against it with his eyes closed for a moment before he fixed the calm schemer in his chair with as close to a glare as he ever got. "What were you doing?!"

Zexion had smelled Demyx coming, which gave him some time to settle the flurry of emotions that filled him at the familiar scent wafting through the door. He just barely managed to hold onto his mask as the door opened. He refused to look up from his book until the other spoke. Seeing Demyx upset bothered him in ways he didn't understand and for a second the carefully prepared words stuck in his throat. He pulled himself out of it and closed his book while he gathered his scattered thoughts. "I simply went out to eat Demyx, it was pure bad luck that Xigbar decided to stop in and have a chat." Feelings were fighting within him as he debated just how much he could tell Demyx. He had had a strong resurgence of his old persona, which made him inclined to keep the other in the dark as much as possible, but the ever stronger feelings of guilt were plaguing him. Even worse was the fear of what Demyx would do if he _did_ reveal what he was planning to do to the nocturne. Not because Demyx might betray him but…because Demyx might hate him. And for some reason, that was the worst thing in the world that could happen. He closed his eyes, grimacing against the pain he shouldn't be feeling. He shouldn't be feeling _any_ of this damn it!

Across the room, Demyx's retort to his companion's smooth answer died on his lips as he saw the pain on the others face. He hurried across the room, bending down to put a worried hand on the others arm, his face only inches from Zexion's. "Zexy?! Are you alright?! Did Xigbar hit you?!" He didn't see any blood…

Zexion didn't respond for a few moments, struggling under the barrage of so many strong emotions at once. The cold had been his residing emotion for so long, even in these past few months it was always there, lurking and ready to take over again. But now…there was no cold, no calm, just emotions bursting from his very pores it seemed, bleeding over into what seemed like physical pain. He took a few short gasping breaths and felt the tight pain in his chest ease a tiny bit. He cracked an eye open and tried to smile reassuringly at the Nocturne who was entirely too close. "Demyx…" A few more breaths, a little more settling in his body, he could do this. He would overcome this. He straitened, almost knocking Demyx in the head with the suddenness of it. The other just barely managed to scoot backwards to avoid it. "I'm…fine…" He was –almost- under control again. He could be grateful that the sudden attack had at least distracted Demyx for a few moments.

"Are you sure? You aren't regressing are you?" Demyx was right next to him once again, putting a hand on his head to check for a fever. "you could of overdone it with…" He hesitated as he remembered _why_ Zexion might have overworked himself today. He just…couldn't bring back that anger though. Anger just wasn't something he was very good at, and with Zexy so weak and vulnerable here from whatever attack had hit him…there was just no way. He sighed softly, keeping some very inappropriate thoughts out of the back of his head, instead giving the schemer a pleading look, kneeling down next the chair and looking up at him with sad eyes. "Zexy…please don't do this. I said I would help you and I will…so please at least tell me what you are doing. Let me help."

Zexion could feel the others pleading words like a sword to the stomach that was slowly being twisted. He…could not physically or emotionally resist those words and that look, even if it meant that Demyx might hate him after this. He closed his eyes, pulling the straggling bits of himself together once again, trying not to fray too much under that sad gaze. "I'm going to destroy the organization." The look Demyx was giving him was full of shock and incomprehension; he simply pressed on to get everything out as quickly as possible. "I have determined that Axel almost certainly tried to kill me on Saix's orders, and regardless of whether he ordered this on his own or with the agreement of Xemnas, I cannot leave the superior alive if I eliminate those two. Xaldin too will most likely seek retribution. Between Xigbar and Luxord, I am unsure of, Xiggy well...he has said he will help me, though I do not fully trust him, and I have no assessed Luxord yet." Demyx still hadn't seemed to really have recovered, and Zexion was really starting to get worried now. He was faltering a bit as he finished his explanation. "Today…I went out with the intention of feeling out Xigbar. I hadn't intended to get caught in the kitchen, but I managed to recruit him and address the situation of Luxord seeing me as well so we are both safe." The last bit was somewhat rushed, and not quite the elegant explanation that Zexion would be known for. Now…he could only wait to see what Demyx would do.

Demyx…still couldn't quite believe what he'd heard. He'd known that Zexion was planning to…well kill someone but…destroy the entire organization? Or what was left of it? He…wasn't going to kill Demyx right? Zexion hadn't said anything about him…but he would tell Demyx if he was going to do so right? Belatedly, Zexion seemed to realize one of the things that might be bothering the other and hesitantly reached out to touch his face. "Demyx…you know I'd never hurt you right?" A little voice in the back of his head was practically shouting 'you idiot! Why are you doing this?!' It was getting to the point where he just didn't care though; he couldn't stand to see Demyx in pain, allowing him to at least temporarily accept the emotions he'd been consciously and subconsciously fighting against since before Demyx saved him.

Demyx closed his eyes, marveling at the soft touch of the hand on his cheek. It felt so great whenever Zexion touched him, filling his whole body with glowing warmth, and to hear such words from him. Demyx opened his eyes to stare into those surprisingly troubled blue ones. Any doubts he may have had as to ulterior motives in Zexion's declaration died. For someone who had been observing Zexion for so long…he could read those eyes like no other person, and what he saw in those eyes made him want to cry with joy. Starting to feel overwhelmed himself, he laid his head against Zexion's knee and closed his eyes while Zexion gently ran his hand through the other nobodies hair, waiting patiently for him to come to terms with everything that was said, now that he was reassured that Demyx didn't hate him. They stayed like that for quite awhile, a comfortable silence accompanying the tender moment until Demyx finally chose to break it. He lifted his head, startling the schemer, who'd apparently drifted off into his own world once again despite the hands playing with Demyx's hair. "Zexy?" The hand paused for a moment and then dropped as life came back into Zexion's eyes. "I want you to know…I meant what I said earlier…I'll still help you."

Zexion's eyes widened Demyx's words far more than he had dared hope for. His surprising giving way to pleasure he smiled that special smile that was just for Demyx and cupped the others face once again, leaning down to plant a gentle kiss on those soft lips. "Just worry about keeping yourself safe for now Demyx." He would only risk himself as much as possible. He leaned back once again, seeming a bit amused by Demyx's stunned expression below him. "Keep that mouth open like that and you might catch something in it."

Hastily Demyx's mouth snapped shut and the other flushed slightly. "Zexy!" He pouted at the other, who was ignoring it with a smirk he couldn't quite hide. Deciding he wasn't going to get the better of this with a smirk like that on Zexion's face he stood up and stretched with a yawn. Another tiring day, no thanks to the stressing out he'd done before he had been able to return to his own room. Which admittedly was a pleasure since he hadn't expected to be in his own bed tonight, and thanks to Zexion's stunt he would once again get to share the bed with Zexy. He might even be able to convince Zexy to cuddle some more! But first- there was dinner to make it through. He groaned a little to himself, he really didn't feel like putting up a face for everyone anymore today. He jumped as he felt a pair of arms wrap around him.

"You'll be alright…you can't let them get suspicious." Remember Xemnas' order to report any suspicious activity, Demyx reluctantly decided that he was right. He'd have to go down and be his usual self tonight. He felt himself turned around and for the second time that night felt a pair of lips press against his own. "Do your best, I'll be waiting." Feeling immensely buoyed by this support he smiled at Zexion and enjoyed the embrace for a while longer before a call rang out that dinner was ready. Zexion let him go and with a reassuring pat he headed out the door to dinner. Everyone seemed to be in better moods now as they gathered around to enjoy the dinner Xaldin had fixed. There was the usual sniping comments' going between Luxord, Axel and Xigbar, though Axel didn't seem to have his heart in it tonight. Demyx mostly kept quiet, enjoying the food and humming softly to himself, seeming to be mostly off in his own world. Since this was pretty classic Demyx behavior no one really bothered him, except for one moment where Xigbar thought it would be funny to toss something at him and he almost choked on his food when whatever it was smacked into his head. It wasn't very hard, which was surprising and Demyx gave Xigbar a wounded look as he glanced towards the crumpled ball of paper now on the table. He flicked it back across the table at Xiggy, who flicked it back, though it disappeared into one of Xigbar's little warp thingies and there was several amused snickers. Demyx hadn't felt anything this time, so he was fairly confused as he returned to his food. He kept looking around as if expecting to see the joke but failed, finally giving up on it and finishing his food as quick as possible so he could escape to his room before Xigbar decided to really start torturing him.

Back in his room he was almost afraid as he entered, expecting Zexion to have magically reverted in the short time he was gone. Zexy had returned to his curled up position and book, but when Demyx walked in he put it down and gave the other a warm smile. "How'd it go?"

Demyx sighed lightly, rubbing the back of his head and stopping as he felt his hand come in contact with paper. So _that's_ why everyone was snickering at him. He pulled it free of his hood and frowned at it, uncrumpling it out of pure curiosity. He read the writing with a puzzled stare before shooting a worried look at Zexion and handing over the letter. The schemer took it and read it quickly, arching an eyebrow, though he didn't seem too worried that Xigbar had spotted his accomplice.

'Demyx, tell Zexion to be a bit more covert about his activities next time.'

Zexion rolled his eyes, crumpling it back up and tossing it in the general direction of the trashcan. "As if I needed the warning." He crossed his arms, looking a bit distant as he pondered the other implications behind the note. He still didn't think that Xigbar figured he was still staying in this castle, but obviously Xigbar was playing some little game of his own in showing that he had figured out Demyx was helping him. This was of course, exactly why Zexion had not completely trusted the freeshooter, but he was pretty sure that Xigbar would be reliable until this game played out. Already his mind was twisting around plans and changes to already made ones to account for this development.

"Zexion?" Zexion blinked, realizing his silence was worrying Demyx a bit. He snapped out of it and gave the other a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about Xigbar Demyx. If he bothers you just play dumb." More stress for Demyx, but it could hardly be avoided. Demyx sighed lightly and sat down on his bed.

"Alright…" He didn't seem as troubled about this as he could be, and a few moments later Zexion went and joined him on the bed, wrapping one arm around the nocturne.

"It's late, you should rest." Demyx turned hopeful eyes on him and he couldn't help but chuckle, putting a finger to his lips before he could speak. "Yes, I will join you." The responding smile was dazzling as the other hugged him impulsively before jumping up to change clothes. Zexion was already in comfortable pajamas, so he simply waited until Demyx was ready before they lay down together once again.


	6. Chapter 6

Zexion was up well before Demyx, though he found himself reluctant to move. The nocturne had turned around and now was wrapped around the smaller Zexion, and the comfortable warmth made the schemer inclined towards a rare moment of laziness. He lingered for longer than he normally would have and then carefully pried Demyx's arms from around him, slipping off to take a shower, and by the time he got out Demyx was awake and mostly alive. "Morning." He smiled at his still sleepy companion who yawned in response and seemed almost like a zombie as he headed towards the bathroom to take care of himself. Zexion slipped into his usual chair, musing a bit to himself as he waited for Demyx to finish his own morning rituals. Thanks to his meddling, several variables had changed since yesterday and Zexion had to plan his next moves carefully, knowing that security would be all that tighter. Demyx would no doubt be sent out once again today, and Zexion had every intention of moving his plans forward. The only question would be whether luck would be with him. There were still a few small kinks in his plan, mainly to do with Xemnas, but he was sure things would fall into place. He was patient, once things were set into motion it was all about finding the right moment to pounce.

He looked up as a somewhat more lively look Demyx emerged, drying his hair to just the right dampness for him to style it. Demyx seemed a bit worried this morning and Zexion could confidently attribute such worry to himself. Unfortunately he couldn't exactly promise that he was going to continue to hide in this room all day and not do anything dangerous, because nothing ever got done that way. "Demyx." He stood up, walking over and putting his arms around the other comfortingly. Strangely enough, once that dam within him had been broken last night, the barriers stayed down. It didn't even occur to him to try and play the cold game with Demyx anymore, he simply followed whatever these 'emotions' drove him too. He could feel the others nervousness and resisted the urge to do something that was a bit much even for this newly reformed him. "Demyx…you know I can take care of myself, yesterday was a fluke, I won't take any unnecessary risk today alright?" He frowned at Demyx. "I want you to worry about yourself Demyx, I need you." There were multiple levels in that one little statement to be read into and he hoped that Demyx read them all. He meant it. He needed Demyx not just for his plan, but for…many other reasons as well. The reasons that lead him to worry and smile and do countless other things he'd never even conceived of doing before.

Demyx sank gratefully into Zexion's arms, though knowing that Zexion may once again leave into the castle to do something dangerous made them cold comfort. Even Zexion's words, usually so persuasive, were not doing quite the trick. Though as he finished, Demyx couldn't help but feel a warmth flow through him. Being the more emotional sort, that was the way he interpreted Zexion's words, and knowing that he was important to Zexion finally made a chink in that case of worry he had made around himself. He managed a smile and wrapped his arms around Zexion as well, closing his eyes and just holding him close for a few moments before letting him go reluctantly.

All the words he wanted to say about being careful were stowed away, knowing they would be wasted on his companion, who had pretty much said he would be careful anyway. He still wanted to say it though. He sighed lightly and headed back into the bathroom, gelled his hair into its distinct style before getting ready to head out. He just wanted to get the mission over with today, so he could return quickly and…make sure Zexion was alright. Knowing he was wandering the hallways while Demyx was out…he had to stop thinking about it and working himself up. "Well…I'll see you in a little bit." He cast one last worried gaze back at Zexion before heading down to the gray room to follow some creep that Axel had found on his recon a couple days before. He got to track some fat idiot around until he figured out what he was up to in that particular world, he hoped this wouldn't take long.

Seeing Demyx's worry, Zexion could almost feel impatience stir within him, for Demyx's sake. He hated to put him through such stress and worry, but for the safety of them both, things had to be done in a careful and circumspect manner. You didn't rush into a dangerous person's lair and just take them on, unless you were that idiotic keyblade master of course. Zexion curled back up in the chair he had vacated, pondering on that. If the keyblade master was still around, he would make an excellent pawn to get rid of the organization with little danger to him or Demyx. Roxas might once have been that tool, but it seemed the little nobody was now well out of his reach. An equally annoying and fortuitous event. He regretted that he never really had a chance to get to know the boy, else he might take a stab at finding him. He closed his eyes for a second and assessed the smells of those remaining in the castle. He found himself somewhat surprised by who remained. Saix, of all people, wasn't there. Instead he picked up the scent of Xaldin, probably patrolling the castle judging by the way his scent 'moved'. Xemnas was also on the move, but he doubted the superior was actually doing something, more likely he was getting himself something to drink. Xaldin, practically alone, was a temptation that Zexion simply couldn't resist. What he would really prefer to do would begin the elimination of members with Xaldin, but that would be foolhardy. Xaldin wasn't stupid or a weakling.

Realizing that the impatience from before was starting to affect his thoughts he took a few deep breaths and forced himself to be calm. He told Demyx he wouldn't make any stupid moves today, and here he was thinking about doing just that. Of course, it was equally Demyx's fault that he was even considering such a thing. Deciding that even thinking about doing anything today was too dangerous Zexion reached over and grabbed the book he had been reading the night before and turned to look down at the cover for a minute before finally sighing and burying himself in the well read pages. Demyx would be happy to learn that he hadn't left the room once the entire day.

Demyx was much relieved to learn that not just was Zexion alive when he returned. Not that he expected him to be dead per say…but regardless he was thrilled to hear from Zexion that for the moment he would not be taking anymore excursions into the castle for a while, minus maybe a talk with Xigbar but since Zexion didn't exactly trust him that was quite the maybe. The nocturne was thus much more calm and relaxed through the following days, and possibly the happiest he had even been with Zexion being so affectionate. They were steadily becoming closer and he was finding himself hard put to not act too out of character. After Zexion's little mess, everyone was still somewhat uptight, but as no more happened they gradually started to relax and focus on their current main objective once again. Finding Roxas. Without any luck whatsoever he might add. Roxas had just up and vanished and there was a strong suspicion that perhaps something had happened to their little keyblade holder. Demyx, along with everyone else, was starting to feel a bit worn by all the work, not to mention annoyed. At least Demyx had his secret love to come back to. Time passed, and it seemed that Roxas would not be found. Plans now had to move forward without him.

Zexion had found his patience again, but by the time the searches for Roxas were token and infrequent he was starting to feel the impatience once more. He had had a lot of time to think about things, locked away in this room with Demyx and his emotions confusing the issue. He was afraid of becoming too content, too complacent. He had to move, there were still so many things to be done. This time, his target was Axel. He left Demyx sleeping one night and stepped through the portal to Axel's room. There was some risk the fiery nobody would still be awake, and obviously he was prepared to take that risk. He needed information, and depending on how things went…the organization might be down their pet assassin in the morning. He did have himself cloaked in illusion, so when a startled Axel looked away from his regard of the forming moon in the sky, he turned to see a sight that made him almost fall off his bed. "R-Ro-Roxas?!" The red haired nobody stared in utter disbelief and…a bit of hope as he met the cold eyes of his friend. The look in his eyes seemed wrong for a second, and Roxas quickly broke the contact, instead turning somewhat to look over the room.

"Sure hasn't changed much since the last time I was here." There was a faint smile on the smaller nobodies face and he turned back to the still stunned Axel, who finally seemed to gather his wits together, jumping up and hugging the smaller nobody with an incredulous smile.

"Roxas! What are you doing here?!" Zexion/Roxas was heartily glad that he was quite used to smothering hugs at this point, he felt like Axel was going to crack a few ribs. He laughed softly instead and elbowed the larger nobody off. "Hey, I need to breathe you know." Roxas set a bit of distance between the two and seemed to turn serious, reluctant to meet his old friends eyes. "I came back…to ask you something." Axel turned a confused look on his small friend, unsure just what to think of this sudden change.

"Ask me…what?"

There was a few moments of silence before the little nobody seemed to gather his determination. "In castle oblivion…Sora and Riku didn't kill everyone did they?" He looked back at Axel from the corner of his eye. Unsurprisingly, this was pretty much the absolutely last thing Axel would of expected to hear. Roxas turned around to face him, his face devoid of any humor.

"Wh-How did you learn about that?!" Axel sounded pained; his reunion with the only person he gave a damn about was…it just didn't make any sense.

"I've found out a lot of things since I left Axel. This was one of them. There was another person in the castle at that time…and he was there to watch the organizations every move. I met him, and he told me what you did…" Roxas trailed off and frowned, his face expressing sadness. "The thing I want to know…is why? Why did you do it? And why did you never tell me." His eyes hardened. "Xion too…would you of killed me as well?"

"Of course not!" Axel burst out, confused and hurt and trying to figure out what the hell was going on. "I just killed Vexen to lead Marluxia off the trail and Saix wanted Zexion dead for his own ambitions! It's not like I killed them because I wanted to!"

Well, that was just too easy wasn't it? Zexion kept the smirk of triumph from crossing Roxas' lips. Instead he mimicked an expression of relief. "That's good…because I wanted to ask you something else as well."

Axel was quite rightfully wary of any more questions after the first one, but reluctantly nodded, hoping that since his response seemed to satisfy the smaller nobody this one would be something better. "what?"


	7. Chapter 7

Zexion had a split second to make his decision. His resolve threatened to waver, weakness lulled into him by the sweet eyes and voice of a certain musician hitting him all at once. The old him would of given little consideration to the fact that Axel had simply been following orders. He likely would of done the same and not blamed Axel if HE had come back to kill him. That thought doomed the flurry of dancing flames. Zexion in the form of Roxas gave no sign of this change of heart. He seemed to be thinking deeply about asking his next question and Axel was starting to get antsy. He smiled then, that special smile Roxas had just for Axel. "Will you kiss me?"

The look on Axel's face was completely dumbfounded. This was another one of those questions that the pyro never would have expected. Roxas arched an eyebrow, seeming surprised and disappointed. "What?...I saw you watching…I always thought you wanted to…"

Axel snapped out of it now. He was torn, and it wasn't that he didn't want to, Roxas was the source of all the caring within him. The small boy had awakened many things he'd simply given up on ever feeling again. The problem was, Roxas was not this brazen. It was possible that Roxas had gone through something that lead him to be here like this but it was quite unlikely. The memory of the intruder several months ago came to mind. That, combined with the questions recently asked by 'Roxas', started to fill in pieces of the puzzle. He couldn't quite believe it, but 'he' was the master of illusion and manipulation. If anyone could deceive both Axel and the replica so completely…Zexion could. And there was little doubt as to why he was here this night.

Zexion could see the pieces falling into place, though not entirely in his favor. He knew the moment that Axel realized who he was; he could see it in the other nobody's eyes. Those same green eyes, though not as cold as they were on that day. He too had been transformed, weakened by another. Zexion would not be the one to let that weakness destroy him. He had the advantage in the form of Axel's weakness. He wasted little time, though it seemed like forever before 'Oblivion' and 'oathkeeper' appeared in his hands.

Axel expected no mercy. No one in the organization was known for having a soft heart (ignoring Demyx), but Zexion was known for sitting on grudges and being one of the last people you'd want to cross. His chakrams were quick to follow the keyblades, though just barely in time to catch that initial rush. In that form, Zexion lost none of the actual Roxas' speed and strength. His main hope was that regardless of the form, Zexion hated to get his hands dirty. This fight shouldn't last long like this before Zex resorted to other measures. Or so he could hope. Even knowing that it was Zexion, striking down Roxas was something he'd rather not do. The unpleasant thought that he might have to do so for real in the future did not bear thinking about.

Zexion didn't let up his attack, pushing Axel in a manner that was quite uncharacteristic for him but nonetheless necessary. He obviously hadn't matched his fighting skills much with any other members but he had watched the others closely. Axel was explosive and unpredictable; his form would not slow down the other much. Even now the room was starting to get hot, his pressing attacks with the keyblades was the only thing that had kept Axel from summoning his fire much. He could feel the drain of his actions though. He may be fully recovered but obviously he'd lost a great deal of stamina.

Axel could see it too, he quickly jumped back, managing to get just enough space to get his chakrams flying and buy him enough time to let his fire loose. A circle of fire erupted around the room, burning nothing but still dangerous to the other nobody. Seeing this, Zexion changed his tactics. Roxas' style wasn't getting him far so he unleashed his magic. Unfortunately this also involved him returning to his own form. The keys morphed into the Lexicon, which immediately expanded to suck in the unfortunate flurry of dancing flames.

Inside he was barraged by magic. Axel broke out quickly though he was the worse for wear when he emerged. For a few moments neither of them moved, the once vicious battle reduced to a silent stare down. Axel seemed more relaxed now that Zexion held his own form once more. He had almost killed the guy, it felt more…'right' to be fighting him in his own form. Axel obviously wasn't going to lay down and die, but he felt it was a better fight now.

Zexion would of disagreed, but he didn't enjoy fighting either. The silence was starting to drag on and Axel was starting to get irritated. The completely calm stare from Zexion probably wasn't helping. He certainly didn't look like a nobody out for revenge. He figured Zex was just screwing with him again but it was hard to keep your cool with that emotionless gaze bearing down on you. Naturally the fiery nobody snapped. "Show something damn it!"

The wall of fire flared up again and Axel disappeared into it. Zexion raised his Lexicon half open and prepared to absorb any attacks that came. He didn't have to wait long; Axel was living up to his name, the 'flurry' of flames. There was hardly a second in between the enraged attacks. Zexion took the liberty of creating several of his clones to 'keep the heat down'. They didn't last very long but they were simply there to distract and draw fire while Zexion prepared a small tornado spell. The powerful winds ripped through the room, briefly depriving the fire of its oxygen. The flames died down, revealing a stumbling Axel. The wind had not touched Zexion but the same could not be said for his opponent. While he tried to regain his breath, Zexion transformed back into Roxas and lunged forward to deliver the finishing blow.

The scene looked a lot like the end of Zexion's battle with Riku months ago, but his position was reversed. He was the attacker now, and the comparison wasn't lost on him. Unlike Riku he didn't just assume that Axel was finished, the other nobody was touch, stubborn and this wouldn't be the first time the nobody had faked a death. He turned around and met those bright green eyes. What he saw surprised him, to the point of recoiling back. It was the same look he saw in Demyx's eyes sometimes when Zex was hiding something or otherwise hurt the nocturne. He realized for a second Axel really saw just Roxas. As expected though, he wasn't finished. A smile crossed Axel's face and Zexion felt a wave of wariness rise. The flame wielder raised his chakrams and was engulfed in flames which quickly spread outwards. Eyes widening in horror at Axel's final act Zexion hastily portaled out of the room, though he wasn't entirely successful. When he appeared in Demyx's room it was in a burst of light and flames.

-

Demyx had rolled over and noticed he was alone by now, so he was awake when this occurred and able to react quickly. Before Zexion could get more than a little scorched he, and a great deal of the room, were doused in water. Demyx jumped to his feet and caught Zexion before he could even think about falling. Between the minor injuries from the initial fight, being blasted by fire and water in turn he was definitely miserable but not majorly hurt. Then there was a frantic Demyx who had given up on evoking a response from the introspective schemer and had started stripping his soaked companion. He didn't get much farther than the coat before Zexion snapped out of it and grabbed his hands. "Demyx." Light blue eyes met darker. "I'm fine." Now that the initial panic was calming, there were other things to be addressed.

"…Axel is dead isn't he?" For a few seconds Zexion couldn't read the expression on the others face. He had no idea what the other was thinking. Then a warm pair of arms wrapped around him and crushed his wet self against the taller nobody. He still had no idea what the nocturne was thinking. "I'm glad you're alright." Whatever Demyx may feel at the death of his estranged sort of friend Axel, he was far more worried about the health of the one he had come to love. Zexion felt himself relax and leaned tiredly against the proffered warm body. The night had been more wearing than he had expected. Never would he of dreamed that Axel would just burn himself out to still 'win' the fight. Stubborn and unpredictable to the end…just as predicted. Demyx didn't seem much inclined to let him go, so Zexion decided it was time to speak up. He was still soaked, and now that he'd made sure Demyx wasn't going to freak out he was ready to get out of these soaking clothes.

"Demyx." Even before Zexion finished his sentence Demyx responded to the familiar tone in his voice. "I am still soaking wet." As Demyx made to help him with his clothing again he frowned. "I can undress myself Demyx." After not being able to do things even as simple as this not too long ago, he was a bit sensitive about being babied too much these days. He saw the hurt in Demyx's eyes and winced, but didn't back down on his statement. Reluctantly the nocturne backed off and sat down on the bed before he annoyed Zexion anymore. Trying to keep his frustration at himself hidden Zex gingerly pulled his shirt off finding a few burns in the process, despite not being very bad they were sensitive. He could see Demyx squirming a bit in response to his pained noises and could feel himself caving. "Demyx." The hopeful doggy look he received made him cringe a bit. Demyx had the full complement of doggie emotions down to a T. "Can you find some ointment to put on these burns?" Grateful for anything to do to help Zexion the nocturne jumped to his feet and ran towards his bathroom. He wasn't exactly thinking much. "Demyx." He stopped and turned to give Zexion a blank stare. "You don't have any burn ointment; you'll have to get some from the infirmary." Nodding with an ashamed flush on his face the nocturne ran out of the room. Zexion closed his eyes with a heavy groan. Demyx was smart enough, but he really needed to work on his emotional control. As soon as an emotion started dominating his brain went out the window.

By the time Demyx returned Zexion had gotten everything wet off and had changed into some dry boxers and pants. He left the shirt off, that being the area that mostly needed treatment. Zexion was sitting on the bed so Demyx could easily get to all angles. The nocturne seemed nonplussed for a few seconds before his brain finally kicked in again about what he was supposed to do and he moved over to the bed as well. There were several moments of awkwardness before Zexion rolled his eyes. "Demyx, just do it. You're not going to hurt me that bad so long as you're careful." The nocturne jumped a bit and hastily poured some out on his hand, starting the largest and worst looking of the burns. He was a bit rough and Zexion bit back any noise until Demyx relaxed and his ministrations didn't hurt quite as much.

As the pain was soothed away Zexion's mind naturally started to wander and brood over the events of the night. For all the time he'd spent dreaming about this moment…he didn't feel very satisfied. And he didn't think it was because Axel stole his death from him. He felt…empty…and maybe just a bit…regretful. He'd been so caught up in fighting himself that moment he'd made the decision to kill Axel, as if by going through with it he would purge himself of any weakness. He didn't feel much stronger for it either. This fighting with himself…that was easily the most frustrating thing about anything that had occurred in the past few months. The confusion that made him unsure of himself, his own motives and actions.

He'd stepped up the plan tonight in an attempt to cling to what he used to be, to shake the complacency that had threatened to fall over him. Maybe even secretly to step towards what he was becoming. He hadn't succeeded in either goal. What _had_ he done this night? The answer kept coming back as 'something wrong'. Wrong? Even if that wasn't quite the right word to describe the feeling he kept worrying at this concept like a dog and its favorite toy. When had he even cared about what was…right or wrong? Since when had he, a nobody, even part of such biased definitions? What the hell was wrong with- "Ouch!" Demyx had rubbed some of the ointment on a fairly deep cut he didn't remember getting. It probably wasn't bad for the cut but it burned like mad and completely derailed whatever he'd been thinking about before.

"I'm soorrrryyyy." Demyx's plea was almost a wail. Sometimes he still expected Zexion to hit him or the like when he did something wrong.

Zexion couldn't manage anything coherent for a good couple of minutes but once the burning started to die down he slowly unclenched his teeth and let his breath out in a soft hiss. "It's fine Demyx…just warn me before you do something like that next time." He turned his head to look at the nocturne. "Are you almost done?" He didn't feel much in the way of pain or burning anymore.

"Y-yeah…that was pretty much the last of it though…I think that cut needs a bandage." Demyx closed the jar of ointment and jumped up to get the bandages without needing to be instructed, emerging from the bathroom a few moments later. He sat back down in his original position and quickly applied the bandage in silence. He could tell that Zexion had dropped into brooding once more. Considering what had happened it wasn't very surprising.

Just as Demyx was starting to put all the supplies away Zexion seemed to come to life, though he looked no less troubled. "Demyx…"

"Yeah, Zexy?" Zexion stared at him without saying anything for several moments, staring as if he just did so long enough he could unlock all the secrets to Demyx's mind. How the nocturne functioned in the strange fashion he did and dealt with all this…insanity. It didn't happen though; once he looked away he was just as unenlightened as before.

"…Never mind." As could be expected, Demyx looked worried and a little hurt but Zexion firmly squashed the strange impulse that had almost caused him to seek the nocturnes counsel. He pushed away the whole issue of Axel and tried to clear his mind. Whatever the reasoning behind it the fact was that it was done now. He had to deal with the consequences, the first of which was making sure he and Demyx were safe. "Demyx, return the burn ointment to the infirmary quickly." Loose ends had to be tied up. Luckily Axel had pretty much obliterated any and all signs in his own room. Not that Zexion had left many. While Demyx went to carry out his order Zexion sunk down into thought once again, this time mostly about Saix. He didn't notice when Demyx returned until the other sat down next to him and wrapped an arm around him. He blinked out of his daze and turned to give Demyx a curious look. "Demyx?" The nocturne leaned down and firmly pressed his lips against Zexion's, startling him even more. "Dem-"

"You need to stop thinking so much Zexion." He cut the schemer off before he could start going off onto something else. The blue eyes that met his were confused. He hesitated for a moment and pulled Zexion up for another kiss. He knew this was a good way to keep the schemer from letting that brain go too much, but he had an ulterior motive. He could feel the stirrings of desire twirl up inside of him and remembering the others wounds firmly clamped down on it. It seemed Zexion had other intentions however and turned fully around to wrap his arms around Demyx, deepening the kiss with a desperation that surprised him. Demyx knew Zexion was upset but he hadn't realized how bad it was. All traces of resistance died away in a moment.


	8. Chapter 8

It seemed like the kiss was never going to end. Demyx felt almost as if the schemer was infusing all his emotional turmoil into him. Which, all in all was just fine with him. He knew that Zexion had struggled since Axel had tried to kill him, and it had not improved with time and 'practice'. In the back of his mind he was somewhat worried that in the morning, when the schemer had slept it off as he always did, he'd regret taking this step with Demyx, but that little worm of reason was not sufficient to even make itself heard against Zexion's sudden bout of passion.

The schemer had pretty much done exactly what Demyx had wanted; he'd stopped thinking, insomuch as he was able. He was thinking…the part of him that usually did the thinking wasn't present though, it was almost as if he had multiple personalities and the second had quite suddenly taken over. There was no internal conflict, no doubt as to what he wanted-no, needed, at this moment. A confirmation of the connection between him and Demyx. The fire rising up between the two of them was not to be denied.

Blindly, hands reached down and pulled up the light shirt clothing the blonds upper body. They broke apart for a fraction of a second before crashing together again, the shirt tossed aside while the two started exploring each other's bodies. Only their shirts were removed but they were so involved in the kiss that it was plenty for the moment. It seemed like their bodies had become strangely sensitive, and while Zexion lead as always, Demyx was quick to respond to his touch. Their tongues tangled together and Demyx could help a small moan. Zexion had found a nipple and was gently rubbing a thumb over it, but just that much was enough to send a wash of desire through his entire body. That seemed to trigger something in the different Zexion and he slowly broke the kiss to push the nocturne back onto the bed, falling with him and trailing his way from those sweet lips to the already tenderized nipple.

He took his time, licking and kissing all around before he finally arrived at the perked nipple. Zexion was the sort to play on the senses, rather than overwhelm them. Subtle but skilled, just like he did with anything else. After making sure he'd worked every bit of pleasure out of the one, he moved to the other side and did the same. In the meantime however, his true impatience was starting to bleed through. While his mouth was busy, his hands had moved farther downward and slipped into the nocturnes loose shorts. There was a startled moan from the blond as he bucked his hips into the schemers hand. Demyx fixed his hands on the smaller mans shoulders while he was pleasured below and above, unable to stifle a string of moans at his companions' skilled work.

Once he felt Demyx was sufficiently worked up, he slipped his hand free, smirking a bit at the soft whimper that accompanied the move. He tugged first the shorts, then the boxers free and tossed them in the same general direction of the shirt from earlier. He took a moment to admire his soon to be lover, who turned a bit pink under the regard, despite being as desperate for this as he was. It probably had something to do with the sudden turnaround of Zexy. Another amused smirk flashed across the schemers face and he finished disrobing himself. Once he finished with that he moved up and reclaimed Demyx's lips, deepening it and slipping his tongue in almost immediately. He couldn't seem to get enough of the nocturnes taste.

As hungry as he was, they didn't stay like that for long. Somewhat reluctantly Zexion pulled away long enough to coat his fingers in a good layer of saliva before returning to the previous position. Once they were settled again he slowly slid one finger inside the nocturne, feeling him tense a bit for a moment before Zexion soothed him with the kiss and pushed in another, scissoring the two and stretching him out. Demyx was doing his best to relax, mostly overcome with desire and excitement. The loving nocturne was finally going to unite with his beloved and not even what occurred earlier could make a shadow in this moment.

Feeling that the blond nobody was as ready as he was going to get, Zexion pulled away once again. With a few quick strokes for himself, the schemer positioned himself against the nocturnes entrance, glancing up for just a moment before quickly pushing himself inside. His groan mixed with a slightly pained sound from Demyx and he paused for a few moments to let him adjust. Once he felt the nocturne mostly relax he slowly started moving once again, gradually picking up his pace as he searched for the perfect spot. As the pain died down Demyx moved with him, his soft moans suddenly punctuated by a louder as he felt a shock of pleasure hit him. Zexy knew he'd hit the spot and picked up his pace, one hand on the nocturnes hips, the other working his lovers member. It wasn't long before Demyx hit his limit, releasing onto the others stomach just a couple short thrusts before Zexion climaxed himself.

Neither moved for a few seconds, regaining their breath. Finally Zexion pulled out and collapsed slightly next to and mostly on top of his lover, tired and sort of bemused as to just what had come over him, let alone what happened. He couldn't say he really cared at this moment though.

Demyx shifted slightly and wrapped his arms around the tired nocturne, nuzzling his hair contently while he debated dropping off. This would normally be the moment where a couple would declare their love for each other, but neither said a word. Zexion…well, he still hadn't even thought love yet. He was living in a most strange world of denial. Demyx on the other hand, was well aware of his feelings but didn't want to push Zexion into dealing with things he wasn't prepared to. Saying anything like that right now would just put the schemer back in a state as bad if not worse than the one he had headed off in the first place. So Demyx help his tongue and waited for the day when Zexion came to terms with himself. It was enough to fall asleep in each other's arms.

When Zexion awoke in the morning it was to an unpleasant banging and a sudden chilling realization that he was completely exposed. Before he could shake off the fog of his deep sleep the door slammed open and Xigbar strode in, kicking the door shut behind him. Whatever Xigbar had been intending to say initially was lost as he realized the position the two were in. Demyx was still mostly asleep and confused, Zexion looking more angry now that he saw it was Xigbar intruding, but none of this could hide the very obvious signs of what they'd been doing last night. Xigbar's eyes widened a bit and let out a low whistle, a grin spreading across his face. It was rare one got to find Zexion in such a vulnerable position. Who would of thought? "Well, well, well, what do we have here? Some after-murder sex eh?"  
As could be expected, Zexion was handling this better than Demyx. The poor nocturne had turned several shades of red and was vainly trying to grab something to cover up with, but since Zexion was still on the bed he wasn't having much success. This did however shake Zexion's rather dark regard of the amused freeshooter. He glanced down at his lover for a moment before slipping off the bed, the two of them abruptly becoming clothed. They all knew it was illusion, but it made Demyx feel better and the two of them LOOK better at least. Now that he was in a slightly better position Zexion got down to business. Normal Zexion was in control right now so the jab towards the activities of last night flew right by without really bothering him. "What are you doing here Xigbar, surely you have other, better, things to attend to right now."

Xigbar's attempt at looking offended was horribly ruined by the amusement he just couldn't hide. "You should thank me, Zexion. I could of just let Saix barge in here and get Demyx instead." The mention of Saix's name had a far stronger effect on the schemer than Xigbar's previous jab. Zexion's eyes narrowed and darkened somewhat, though inwardly he was berating himself for letting his emotions overcome him and being so careless. OFCOURSE there was going to be a meeting called the second someone discovered that Axel had been killed; he really was starting to lose his touch. Of course normally he'd of been awake well before now…but that was no excuse.

With an effort he shook off this new low and focused on Xigbar once again. "I trust you were circumspect." There was one lucky thing in the fact Xigbar was able to get away with being a lot more eccentric than just about anyone else in the organization.

Xigbar let out a short bark of laughter. That was pretty much the reaction he expected, just like Zexion. Regardless of the position you found him in, he just dealt with it as if it had been part of the plan all along. "Yo Kiddo, you might want to get your ass in gear and get some real threads on, the superior won't wait much longer." In typical Demyx fashion his emotions had cleared all sensible thought out of his mind. Once jarred out of this state though he practically tripped over himself to get some clothes on, though he was a mess.

Zexion reluctantly decided that he would have to risk an illusion in the presence of Xemnas, since Demyx had no time to take a shower and there was understandably a very distinct odor that even those without such a sharp nose would be able to detect. So he laid down his most subtle illusion on the nocturne before turning to give Xigbar a chilly look, projecting a brief private illusion into his mind. "You had better watch out for him." There was a decided promise of unimaginable horrors if he didn't. Naturally, Xigbar shrugged it right off.

"I think you're starting to lose your touch Zexy, you should watch that." With that flippant remark Xigbar strolled out of the room, leaving the two alone while he went ahead to the meeting.

With Xigbar gone Zexion turned his attention to his much shaken lover. He covered the space between them quickly and put a reassuring hand on Demyx's arm. The nocturne was understandably rather shaky at what could have been such a close call. Of course this was exactly why Zexion had jumped on the chance to recruit Xigbar, unreliable though he might be. At least actions he'd taken before he turned into a confused mess were coming in handy. Demyx however was having more trouble taking this in stride. "Nothing happened Demyx." He pulled the nocturne down for a quick kiss. "You have to calm down some. A certain amount of shock and dismay can be understood with what happened, but you have to hold yourself together." As if he could infuse his own control in the other, Demyx regained some of his calm, managing a weak smile for Zexion.

"I'll be alright…"

"YO, lovebirds, if Mullet man there doesn't get his ass moving, you're going to have some serious problems here shortly." It seemed Xigbar hadn't really left, just gone outside to wait, perhaps anticipating that Demyx would be slow to move, and such a sappy Zexion wouldn't be helping. Demyx jumped most impressively and with a regretful look back at Zexy darted out the door.

Watching Demyx hurry out, Zexion found himself struck with a strange wish that Lexaeus was still alive. He had been unshakable, and that was a quality that could be well appreciated at this moment. The inner struggle between what Zexion was becoming, and what he had to be to finish what he had started had not lessened after last night's activities. He was becoming a danger to them both, and he had to stop it now.

He brooded over it while he moved into the bathroom and proceeded to clean off the remains of…last night. He wasn't quite ready to deal with what he'd done last night and in light of what happened this morning, obviously it could not happen again. He felt an unpleasant twist in his stomach and unconsciously added 'until its safe'. He shoved it all away for the moment and focused on the more important issues. He'd taken the first serious step towards his goal and there was no turning back now. He had to step everything up and prepare for the next step. He had the information he needed. His next target was revealed, the only question was when and where. Certainly not too soon, though as his attack on Axel should teach them, time did not make them any safer.

The word time resonated within him and he found himself frowning darkly at the dull white of the shower wall. Luxord. The others were easily relegated in one category or another but he, like Xigbar, was one of those who defied any definitive preconception within his plan. The gambler of fate viewed everything as a game, and was possibly one of the most dispassionate members of the entire organization. If he convinced the gambler that it were better odds to bet on Zexion than those he planned to be rid of…like Xigbar, he could be quite useful. The dilemma of his personal conflict forgotten, he lost himself in the comforting rhythm of twisting and pulling the threads of the numerous possibilities to form one beautiful whole that was his course of action in the future.

By the time Demyx returned from the meeting, Zexion was feeling quite refreshed. For the first time in months he felt like his old self, completely sure of himself and his plans set in place. He felt like he would be able to deal with anything chance might throw at them. He was so calm in fact that he was comfortably curled up in Demyx's chair reading the Lexicon when Demyx walked in. The sight of such unconcern was…equally painful and relieving for the nocturne at the same time. On one hand it had been a while since Zexion had been so calm and sure of himself and that gave Demyx confidence about the future, however, Demyx could also feel that barely perceptible wall that signaled his love had returned to his lofty castle where he looked down on the world as little more than pawns. And…while it wasn't quite the same thing he had been afraid would happen after last night, it was bad enough. After finally being so close to his beloved, to see that distance rise up between them once more was almost more than he could take.

"So what was the decision at the meeting, Demyx?" Zexion looked up from his book at the nocturne, a cool mimicry of his usual smile coming to his face at the sight of the other. It took all of Demyx's normally limited control to not break down at the sight of that smile, so very similar to the one he'd seen these past few months, but so very different. He stayed silent for a few moments to steady himself before answering the schemers question.

"Xemnas ordered a brief search of the castle, but after last time he is assuming that…the intruder has long since left the castle. Instead he's sending us out on recon missions to try and find out who infiltrated the castle." The old routine of reporting his day to Zexion was having something of a soothing effect on the nocturne. "There were a few suggestions, including Roxas and the cloaked imposter we saw around that time, but haven't seen since. The superior is waiting until 'we' have more information." The last bit was a rather excellent imitation of Saix. "Naturally, it is becoming even more important to get Roxas back and discover the identity of the imposter, and regardless of your mission these things take precedence." Demyx caught a flicker of amusement in Zexion's eyes at that and smiled hopefully. His love wasn't completely gone, just hidden away for the moment. Of course now he recalled that he was, as the recon specialist, going to be sent out on a long mission in twilight town with Xigbar.

Zexion didn't miss the rather quick change in demeanor and raised an eyebrow. "What is it Demyx?"

The nocturne sighed heavily and dropped his shoulders. "Me'n Xiggy are going to be in Twilight town for a few days." Going with Xiggy was probably one of the most hellish companions they could have put him with, even or especially considering Xiggy was somewhat aware of what was going on. And after seeing what happened this morning, the freeshooter was no doubt going to tease him mercilessly. At that even Zexion as he was now couldn't stand up to that much dejection. He let the Lexicon disappear and stood up, putting a comforting pair of arms around the nocturne as his mind quickly made a few additions to the plan. There was no reason for Zexion to stay here all cooped up in Demyx's room while he was gone, it would be much more productive in fact to meet Demyx and Xigbar in Twilight town and aid them in their information gathering. He was very much curious about the events surrounding Roxas' disappearance and the information to be gained was invaluable.

"I shall join the two of you." Demyx gave his lower a dumbfounded look.

"you're gonna...what?" He couldn't quite believe what he'd heard.

"I will aid you and Xigbar during your mission. It would be safer for me to be away from the castle for a few days and, as you have no doubt covered in the meeting, Twilight town is the most likely place for all the answers to Roxas' disappearance, and this is information that we can use. It would be even better if I discover something on my own." Obviously, his trust in Xigbar was still exceptionally low. Xigbar was a lot like Axel, in having his own sort of agenda and getting what he wanted. It was obvious that Zexion had no intention of changing his mind and Demyx couldn't think of any GOOD reasons to convince him otherwise, so the nocturne let it drop. In all honestly he was grateful to have someone around to intercept Xigbar's teasing and probes for information. Instead he let himself enjoy Zexion's embrace while he could. Eventually the schemer moved away, and he let out a soft sigh. "You should clean up while you have the chance Demyx."  
The nocturne felt a slight flush coming to his face, remembering well, a lot of things. But foremost that he was pretty filthy. "R-right." He was probably offending the schemers sensitive nose. He hastened to the bathroom once more and set about scrubbing himself clean with a vengeance.

Zexion was gone by the time he finished cleaning up, Demyx was sure the schemer was already in Twilight town, gathering information. He felt slightly depressed that he hadn't waited for Demyx but from Zexion's logical point of view he could see why the schemer didn't. It didn't help Demyx feel any better, since it was a sign of the distance between them, but he understood it. He pulled on a fresh set of clothes and then headed out to the gray room, seeing Xigbar was already gone as well. He was seriously starting to feel abused here. He couldn't help a bit of a pout as he opened his own portal and stepped out into the usual back alley. There wasn't any initial sign of Xigbar but that didn't mean much, he was one sneaky bastard, a match for Zexion almost in that matter. Speaking of Zexion…if he were the schemer…where would he of gone?

The nocturne strained his brain but was failing at finding any place in particular that would attract Zexion's attention. In all actuality Demyx hadn't spent a great deal of time in Twilight town, he was generally sent to other places and that wasn't helping this matter. "'Bout time you showed up." Demyx almost jumped out of his skin as Xigbar seemed to pop out of thin air in front of him. He clutched at his chest and tried to get his breathing to steady.

"Man Xigbar you almost scared me to death! Why can't you walk up like a normal person?" Demyx was whining and he hated it, but he couldn't seem to help it, Xigbar really brought out the worst in him. Naturally the freeshooter was quite pleased.

"Perhaps you should use those eyes of yours a bit more." Xigbar smirked at him for a few more moments before glancing around with just a hint of a more serious expression. "While you were lollygagging around I took a bit of a mosey around this place, seems like a quiet enough town. Every town has its mysteries though, and that's generally where you find mysterious sorts eh?"

"You state the obvious like quite the professional Xigbar." It was Xigbar's turn to be surprised, though obviously he didn't have near the reaction poor Demyx did. Zexion strolled towards them from what looked like a little curtained off area of the back alley.

Naturally, Xigbar started laughing. "Perhaps the Kiddos worn off on me a bit then." Not being the brightest bulb in the bunch, you spent a lot of your missions with Roxas explaining things. "And to what do we owe this honor Zexion? Here to make sure I take care of your lover-boy over there?" He shot poor Demyx a wicked grin and the nocturne turned quite an amusing shade of pink.

"No." That sure cut the mood like a knife. It also did an excellent job of diverting Xigbar from Demyx. Xigbar turned to give Zexion a real surprised look, raising an eyebrow with something of a more serious expression on his face now. "I am here for the same reason you are, to locate the keyblade bearer, in either of his forms." It was logical to assume that anyone after Sora's nobody likely had something to do with the missing keyblade bearer himself.

Another chuckle escaped the freeshooter. How much of the truth he saw was always up in the air, something of a slight frustration for the schemer no doubt. "Oh really? And I assume you have an idea of where to start then?"

The schemer fixed him with a cool look of disdain. "Why Xigbar, surely you know the answer to that as well as I." For a second there seemed to be an imminent clash between the two before the freeshooter turned and started walking off, chuckling to himself.

"Then we should get to work eh? My specialty and yours no?" With that Xigbar vanished, leaving a baffled Demyx staring at an unmoved Zexion.

Demyx was a bit diffident, rather withdrawn thanks to Zexion's current 'mood'. "Um...Zexy?...what was that about?" The schemer glanced over towards the nocturne and relaxed just a little.

"Nothing to worry about Demyx, just a little…game." That was as good of word for it as any. "More importantly, we should spread out and gather what information we can. It should not be too hard to find someone whispering about the dark places of this town." Someone was always whispering about this or that. "You may not see me very often, but I will be around. Try not to let Xigbar get to you too much." With that he turned away and vanished in much the same way Xigbar had, leaving poor Demyx to pull himself together and drag himself to work.

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Uh...so don't kill me but somehow this part has been written for a while but not made it on to FF... but there is more to come! that I just wrote! Thank you to the person who gave me my motivation back!


	9. Chapter 9

After leaving Xigbar and Demyx, Zexion headed towards the outside of town. He had been around here before, though not usually with the people still in it. Normally the organization had the area they were in cleared out, because he generally only went here to teach. He didn't leave the castle much otherwise; both him and Vexen were usually employed with experiments and research. He knew the layout of the town well enough though, and in the time that he had spent here before Demyx arrived he had used his powers to good use to gather a fair amount of useful information. He'd put a 'familiar person' spell over himself and went around town speaking with people easily. They had had many rumors and speculation, mostly of strange occurrences, but there was no sign of Roxas or Sora. Despite this lack of a clear trail, Zexion was hardly deterred. His specialty was taking fragments of information and then putting them together in an unexpected but invariably useful way.

This time was no different. He'd just finished talking with a particular fat boy who'd been nattering along and had mentioned an abandoned manor they thought there was a ghost in, though no one had ever actually seen it. It was then that many pieces had suddenly fallen together and he came to the glaring realization of just why they had not been able to find either Sora or Roxas, despite their very thorough searches. Someone was hiding them, most likely someone who was trying to help them, though he did not dismiss the possibility that this person did not have the best of intentions. In the end it didn't really matter. What was important was that someone with the power to hide the keyblade holders from both the organization members and their nobodies had to have a great deal of power, and was probably moderately clever. What better place to hide them than right under the organizations noses? The organization who rarely bothered to actually talk to people, and only occasionally even listened to them. The only one he knew of who had a tendency to do so was Xaldin, the resident silver tongue, and he wasn't exactly the brightest bulb in the bunch. He had been a guard before he'd become a nobody.

A decidedly malicious and cold look came to his eyes as he thought about Xaldin, it was tempting to change his plans to get rid of him first, but he knew that this was not the best course of action. The next likeliest person to figure out he was still alive was Siax. Before any of his plans could move forward however, something needed to advance. One thing that he had to do soon was feel out Luxord, and he was still tossing around two possible ways to do so. So while he decided how to do that, he was here seeing how he might advance some other plans and possibilities. He had not expected to actually find a great deal, but it seemed he had stumbled upon some quite fortunate information.

While he had been lost in his thoughts, he had made his way steadily towards the hole that lead to the outside of town. Almost before he was aware of it, he found himself standing in front of some ornate closed gates. He held a hand out and narrowed his eyes, extending his senses and inhaling deeply. There was definitely someone staying in that manor, however disreputable it looked on the outside. Whatever precautions they take could not deceive his overly enhanced senses, most particularly his nose. Several scents pervaded the air, all of which were familiar. He identified Riku's and Namine's easily but the other…while familiar he could not immediately place. He did not try to push too hard to recall it, letting his subconscious work on it while he pondered what else he'd sensed. There was a portal in-between worlds here, similar to their portals that took them from their grey world on the 'dark' side of the universe to the normal side where the majority of people existed.

That was the next most interesting piece of information, because it suggested that the nobodies were not the only ones who had made their own little private world inside the darkness to hide. He put a hand to his chin and tapped it musingly, once again fitting little seemingly unrelated and poor fitting pieces together. It was clearly not a place that the person Riku and Namine was with had made to hide, because it was obvious they spent plenty of time in this one. The two large pieces clicked together in a rush. Just because he couldn't smell them, did not mean that the keyblade holders were not here. Both Namine and Riku would be the first people to help them, and it was possible they had enlisted the aid of this person, or had been collected by them because his intuition told him that neither of them were running the show.

It bothered him that he could not seem to identify that other scent, but in the end it did not matter greatly, what was important was confirming what he suspected. He cloaked himself in invisibility and let the lexicon appeared in front of him as he lifted off the ground and over the gates, landing gently on the other side and moving slowly inside before his eyes narrowed and he whirled to glare towards a Xigbar he knew was there. He still didn't quite trust the man, and was leery of sharing information with him, but he knew the other could no longer see him, so he turned back around and continued on his way. There was little he could do to keep the other from snooping, so he would have to feel out the man once they had learned all there was to learn. Perhaps it was yet another thing that could be turned towards his favor. He did have ways to discover things that the other man did not.

He put yet another illusion up to hide the fact he had opened the door, shutting it behind him, Xigbar could get in on his own. Once inside he made sure to use his illusions to mask every possible indicator of his presence. He had tangled with Riku before and knew he had the same overly strong sense of smell that Zexion did, or at least nearly. Scent was equally hard and easy to mask, leaving him very cautious. He knew of it now, so he was making that precaution, but unlike sight or sound, scent had a way of sneaking past things. Riku also thought he was dead however, so the young man might very well think he was just smelling things. He was not going to count on that chance though. He ignored both of the rooms on the lower level, deducing that they were not anything of interest. He did the same with the left one on the upstairs, going towards what he could smell was a library, and which was steeped in the scents of the ones staying here, far more than any other single room in the place. He was making an assumption that any room that got that much traffic must be somewhere important.

He stopped and looked around quite musingly as he entered the library. The scents of the two men were quite fresh, almost as if they were still in this room, but they were nowhere to be found. His old cool smile slid onto his face as he paced around the room, judging where the scent trails tended to be the strongest. He walked to where the stairs would be had he opened up the floor, staring down a few moments before looking around for the key to getting down. Books were very popular for such a thing, but before he tried to pick one out of the many shelves, he went for the candle holder. To his thankfulness, that turned out to be the right thing. He quickly cloaked the noise and sight of the change, moving swiftly down the stairs and knowing that he had just taken the most risky move so far. Once the floor was gone he could hear voices and the scents were stronger than ever. He followed the signs, though he did not open the final door into the room. As much as he would enjoy discovering the identity of the familiar mystery man, he was not going to risk more than he already was.

Unsurprisingly, the voice was even more familiar than the scent, and while it tickled at his memory the name still remained frustratingly out of his reach. He listened intently through the door, the smile growing more as he listened to the conversation that confirmed almost all of his suspicions. Most importantly, that the keyblade holders were indeed both hiding in the darkness, in this man's own private little creation. What he had not expected, though after he heard it he realized he should have, was that they were trying to put them together. His eyes narrowed a bit at that, considering the implications. He was unsure how this would impact his own plans. After thinking about it, he decided that his plans could once again take a bit of a change. Or a great deal of a change in this case.

He left the doorway and followed his senses to the little pocket of darkness that could only lead to the mysterious man's personal little world. He eyed it but did not go inside, knowing that to do so would alert them, and even as he thought so he suddenly heard an angry hiss and a shout from the direction he'd just came from. Riku had realized there was a scent that shouldn't be there. He didn't bother to try to elude them, he simply opened up a portal of darkness and stepped through, appearing farther out into Twilight town. He leaned back against a wall musingly, though he did not let down his protections. Riku was likely to come searching for the nobody who'd broken into their manor. Now that he knew not just the location but the status of both keyblade holders, he was now ready to do something about it. He needed to stay dead, but he thought for a while he might masquerade as another certain nobody who was also dead but would not put suspicion on him by Riku and his friend, and with Xigbar and Demyx of his side the organization also.

He lifted his head and scented Demyx, finding no sign of Xigbar at the moment though he was quite curious as to how much the other had discovered. He almost suspected it was the other nobody who'd actually tipped Riku off, which likely meant he hadn't learned much. He moved swiftly to find Demyx, surprising the other as he caught his arm while still invisible. The blond whirled with wide eyes, about to panic until the illusion dropped and he realized it was Zexion. Immediately he enveloped the other in his arms, leaving a rather bemused Zexion between them. "I've only been gone for a short while." There was no little amusement in his voice.

Demyx had a rather mixed expression on his face as he pressed it into the others shoulder. He could still tell that Zexion was very much walled away, but he was grateful for any chance to be close to the other, even if it was only physically. "It was still too long."

There was something of a sigh mixed in with a chuckle from Zexion. "I am going to head back to the castle for the moment. Riku is here and he's been alerted to the presence of nobodies. If you see him run, and in the meantime try to find Xigbar. I suspect you will find that he also has some interesting information. When you do find him, tell him I wish to speak with him." He looked up at the others panicking face for a few moments before smiling a bit and showing a bit of his old warmth as he put a hand on the others cheek and attempted to calm him. "Easy, Demyx, just be careful and if anything happens let Xigbar take care of it. I'll see you later." He took a step back and was enveloped in darkness.

Demyx stared at the now empty spot sadly, wishing for the closeness he used to feel with the other, but making himself turn around and start looking for just about the last person he'd like to find.

As usual, Xigbar was the one to find him, and in a manner that scared the crap out of him, also as usual. For the second time today he felt an unexpected sensation, but instead of a hand on his shoulder it was someone pressing a gun against his spine. He squeaked and froze, his hands flying up into the air, though a few seconds later he belatedly realized it was Xigbar. He still didn't drop his arms though. He would not be surprised if that crazed man actually shot him, if not in somewhere fatal then on a very painful extremity. "X-xigbar you can stop pointing the gun at me now…"

There was a dark chuckle from behind him, but the gun didn't move. "I suppose our little sneaker already left eh?" He seemed entirely too proud of his little twist off 'schemer'. "And what did he have to stay before he ran off with his tail between his legs at the scent of Riku?"

Demyx felt a bit annoyed at those words and actually had the gall to turn around and give Xigbar a defiant if slightly pitiful expression. "Zexion did not run away! He found what he wanted and left!"

Xigbar raised an eyebrow with a bit of a smirk at the others rare show of defiance. "Sure he did mullet head, how about you answer my question now eh?"

Demyx flushed at the reminder. "Ze-" His eyes widened in horror as he saw a dark portal open up behind them and a cloaked figure step out. He –knew- it was not another organization member, he could spot any of them on sight even with their hoods up. "X-xi-xigb-bar!" He backed away and flat out ran as he'd been ordered, though he would have done so anyway.

Behind him, Xigbar had a wild grin on his face as he turned to the cloaked man behind him. Like Demyx he had no problem seeing it was not an organization member, though the sword that materialized in the man's hand was a big clue if the size and build was not. "Oh someone wants to play~!" He pointed his gun at the other. "I think the superior won't mind if I bend a few rules for you!"

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I'm sorry for this chapter being almost entirely Zexy thinking...but you know how he is .;;


	10. Chapter 10

Xigbar finally arrived in Demyx's room a few hours later, having apparently had a bit of trouble with the other cloaked figure, who Zexion knew to be Riku. Zexion was seated comfortably in his usual chair, facing a nervous and uncomfortable Demyx who jumped up at the sight of a rather battered Xigbar. "X-Xigbar!" He hurried over to check on the other and almost got knocked on his ass from the look the freeshooter gave him.

"I'm fine Mullet head." The older nobody strode past him and plopped messily into the chair that Demyx had once been occupying. "Nice of you to leave him for me to play with." There was a dark chuckle, though clearly things had not gone the way he liked and he was still a bit irritated because of it. It was safe to assume Riku was still alive then.

Zexion smiled coldly at him. "You're welcome Xigbar, I do hope you enjoyed it." For all the two were supposed to be working together, there was more jockeying for position going on than a royal succession. "Did you find anything interesting while prowling or did you simply exhaust yourself fighting a superior opponent?" It still burned a little to think of Riku, but he knew who really to blame for what had nearly happened to him. Only he could be blamed for his underestimation of the boy who eliminated his companions.

Xigbar's cold expression made it very clear he didn't appreciate the jab, though he was doing his best to put on his usual jokers expression. "Oh I'm sure you know everything I do Zexion." His grin was starting to look a bit more normal now. "After all, you kept the blokes busy while I had some fun exploring."

Only the iron control that was once again Zexion's kept his eyes from narrowing. Xigbar was implying many things, including an excess of information he may or may not actually have. "Well I do hope you found out something interesting then." He wasn't going to push it, whatever information the man may have got, was minimally important. He had the pieces he needed, and now it was time to go into action again. "In the meantime, I think this will do." He ran his hand slowly over the comforting leather cover of the Lexicon and smiled. "From here on things get much more interesting; do try to keep up number II."

Zexion stood up and flicked his hair to the side, his cold smile creeping up. "I trust you'll be able to smooth this over Xiggy." Even as he spoke his form shimmered, growing upwards by well over a foot, his hair shifting backwards, upwards, darkening and spiking itself up. His slim form was now much more muscular, and soon only the Lexicon remained. "Well, what do you think Xiggy?" He tossed the Lexicon up and had it split into two. Once it came down he had two perfect replicas of Axel's chakrams.

Unsurprisingly, Xigbar didn't look too surprised. In fact he looked quite amused, which was nothing new for him. "Ah, I'd been wondering if you were going to pull that." He tossed his head back and had a hearty chuckle. "Well then, Axey, let's go see Xemnas eh?" He jumped up and strolled out of the room with the ever cocky 'Axel' behind him.

Demyx, who had been mostly forgotten between the other men's playing, watched them go with an equally worried and sad expression. After getting so close Zexion was only getting farther and farther away, and even worse now he would be playing Axel and Demyx would not even have the physical comfort anymore. His lip started to tremble and a few tears leaked out. He quickly brushed them away but now his shoulders were shaking and he felt so weak and devastated. "Zexy…" A few more tears leaked from him and he finally collapsed into his chair once again and started to sob softly. "What am I supposed to do?..."

With Xigbar at his side to make up some wild story about finding Axel unconscious in Agrabah, it was too easy to get himself accepted and return to 'his' usual duties. Everything went relatively back to normal, but there was just one problem. Demyx could not act if his life depended on it and it was clear to anyone that for some mysterious reason the return of his old friend was depressing him, which made no sense whatsoever to anyone who wasn't in the know. There would have to be some changes, some in the organization were already getting suspicious.

"I think perhaps it is time Xigbar." 'Axel' and Xigbar were standing in a secluded corner, where Zexion might relax and at least speak and he normally would, rather than as the uncouth hellion. "It would be best coming from you. They'll be sure to send me after him." From there, not even Xigbar knew what he would do. Mostly likely he thought that Zexy was going to bring him back as Axel and then turn him against the organization, but it had become clear after a while that Xigbar had been playing and Zexion still had all the cards in his hand. He suspected it was Xigbar who had set Riku off now, and Xigbar had had no time to determine the status of Roxas.

"And then that fun you promised me better be quick in coming eh?" With a quick grin and a envelopment of darkness he was gone to report. Hopefully. Zexion let out a soft tired sigh and leaned his head back against the cool unnatural brick. He never trusted anyone, but of all people to be putting his trust in Xigbar was not his first choice. Only Luxord would be one he would trust less, and that was only a maybe. "Well then," He was about to push himself off the wall and get ready for the assignment he knew was coming when he caught a familiar scent and couldn't help but pause. He was hiding it better, but every so often when he was semi relaxed those pesky feelings would sneak up on him, and even more so when he happened to be around Demyx.

"Ze-Axel!" Demyx's eyes widened in surprise as he came around the corner, barely managed to correct himself but unable to stop the tumble into his disguised lover, who actually managed to catch him. Demyx couldn't help a shudder and the expected feeling of softness when he only collided with what seemed to be solid muscle. Just that alone nearly sent him to tears, and Zexion was not one to miss this.

"These past days have been harder on you than I thought." Almost without him realizing it, Zexions hand moved up to caress the nocturnes cheek. "Perhaps I put too much on you." His other hand fixed on Demyx's wrist and he pulled the other nobody into a nearby room, shutting the door as an afterthought and pressing him against the wall. Belatedly he realized his disguise was bothering Demyx more than anything and quickly dropped it, fixing the other with a kiss he had secretly craved as much as the other had.

They stayed like that for several moments before finally breaking for air, Zexion's eyes dark with too much emotion and Demyx's predictably wet. "Zexy…" IX was doing his best to hold onto himself, but it was a futile effort and it was a few mere seconds before he crushed the smaller man in a tight hug and was once again crying pitifully.

"You're going to smother me Demyx." The worlds were unusually tolerant, though Zexion was doing his best to go back to his cold self. He hated dealing with tears, even more so when the blond brought out these…pesky things in him! Regardless he had to put out this fire before the whole thing was in shambles. "I'm sorry Demyx." He ran a hand slowly through that mullet and rested his head against the other nobodies, mixed reactions born from the feelings and his ultimate goal yelling at him.

"Why can't we just run away Zexy?..." The mumble was barely heard over all the sniffles and sobs.

"Because we won't be safe unless I do this." Zexion knew what was needed now, and both of the warring sides of him could deal with it. He could even almost make himself believe it was all just for this. "If we ran away now the entire organization would be after us, you've seen how they keep searching and searching for Roxas, we would never be able to relax or stay in one place. Do you want to spend forever running?" He pulled the other nobodies' head up to face him, giving the blond a gentle kiss and a soft smile.

Demyx felt the warmth from Zexion and almost cried with joy. It wasn't all gone, and he could feel the hope that after this was all over he'd get his Zexion back, his sweet, sweet Zexion back. He managed to choke back anymore tears and shake his head. "N-no…" He could feel the determination budding in him, he would do his best for Zexy so they could finally be free forever! He clutched to him tightly once again and took a deep breath before pulling away. "I-I'll see you later." He brushed at the tear marks desperately and hurried out the door.

As soon as Demyx's back was turned Zexion's face dropped back to its usual cool expression and he let out another tired sigh. With that problem settled everything else should proceed somewhat smoothly. "Time to get back to work." He stood up and brushed himself off, frowning at the large wet spot Demyx had left on his shoulder. A quick spell took care of that, and a moment later Axel was standing there once more. He strode out the door and flopped down on one of the waiting area couches in typical Axel fashion. He noticed that Luxord was there and tilted his head with an Axel grin. "Yo blondy, what ya playin' now?"

Luxord looked up slowly and raised an eyebrow, a small challenging smirk coming to his face. "Eh? Is number VIII bored perhaps?"

Axel kicked his legs up on the table and waved a hand nonchalantly. "Is curiosity not a good enough reason blondy?"

"Hmm…" Luxord eyed him for a few moments before chuckling softly and with a flick of the hand had perfect game of Speed set up in front of them. "Care to test yourself VIII?" It didn't matter what game it was, Luxord was ridiculously good at everything. No one had been able to find a game he could possibly be beaten at. That being said…up until now, the inner personality of the Axel sitting in front of him had not joined in in this pursuit.

"Sure~!" A devilish grin crossed his face and Axel dropped his legs, leaning forward and snatching up the second deck of cards for his use. "But don't cry at me when you lose!" Such confidence was really from Zexion, but arrogance was one of Axel's strong points so it could be easily masked in that.

Both of their hands settled over the first card and in a split second the crucial cards are revealed. Two overly serious calculating pairs of eyes flicked to the 5 cards in their hands, analyzing what they had and after another moment two hands nearly collided as they both tried to slam down the same card.

A flicker of surprise crossed Luxord's face as the 'dust' settled and it was clear that Axel had gotten there first. Considering a certain amount of brain power was required for this game, and he couldn't expect it of the relatively moronic flame welder. A true game master however, was not going to be even put off by such a minor thing. 'Axel' had not stopped his onslaught and Luxord was not about to be left behind in any sort of game.

There were several more near collisions and their personal decks were dwindling fast. Appropriate for a game called 'Speed'. There was no time for talk; this was a game of instant calculation and reaction. With a mere 3 cards in Axel's hand and 4 cards in Luxords, the game finally slowed. Neither of them could move.

Axel looked up from his hand with a cocky grin. "Seems we've both ran out, you ready?" His hand settled on the small pile next to the surprisingly neat ones they'd been dealing into. Luxord wasn't so quick to set out a new card.

"Say Axel…" Luxords face was that of a perfectly calm poker master. "you've been doing pretty good."

Axel's face gave nothing as well, though not in the same fashion. That same grin did not move an inch. "What, you getting antsy because you're about to lose Luxord?"

Luxords fingers tapped lightly on the card they were waiting for him to flip. "I wouldn't say that, mysterious intruder."

Almost before he'd finished that sentence, they were both enveloped in a world of darkness. 'Axel' could no longer be seen. "As expected of you Luxord. The same trick doesn't work on you twice." There was a dark laugh. "I guess I'll just have to deal with you now."


	11. Chapter 11

"Oh?" Luxord was as calm as could be expected, the nobody who saw all of life as a game to be won. "You're quite the tricky one, but do you think it will be that easy?"

The figure of Axel stepped out from the endless darkness, that grin still plastered on his face. "Perhaps~ I could speak a word and end it. Do you think this will end any differently than the card game X?"

"The game isn't over yet!" Luxord flung his arm forward and there was a bit of a crackle. "Whatever skills you might have, can they match up to the luck that is mine?" Somewhat to 'Axel's' surprise he found his illusion crumbling around them, and once again they were in the murky yet overly bright light of the castle. Their hands were still ready to continue the game, neither of them had moved an inch.

"My, I am impressed X." It was still Axel talking, but the infliction had changed to that of a more refined personage. "To break my spell so easily." His finger tapped the card. "Shall we finish then?"

"Of course." In a rather strange turn of events, considering what had been an imminent battle, the cards were flipped and in a ridiculously short time, it was over. The Gambler of Fate had won, and Axel was left with one unusable card in his hand.

"Well played Luxord." Axel idly slipped the card through his fingers like another might do a knife. "Truly, you are not called The Gambler of Fate for nothing." He grabbed the card and sent it flying towards Luxord, who caught it no problem of course. "How about a gamble then, hm, X?"

"And what would that be, mysterious intruder?" Luxord had returned to his unreadable poker face.

Zexion couldn't tell if Luxord had actually caught on to him or not, it was slightly irritating, but only to be expected he supposed. "A gamble of life and death, as much as you can call it that for a nobody." Zexion barely stopped himself from a familiar musing gesture that would have given him away for sure.

"Continue." It was clear that Zexion had managed to peak his interest.

"I have a bet, that I am going to be able to destroy this entire organization." Axel/Zexion looked over at the other nobody with a somewhat serious but confident expression. "As such, you have a few choices. You can try to stop me. Or you can take the gamble that I will be able to do what I say. Either way, you walk a path of possible elimination." He chuckled softly. "But that's the most fun kind of gamble isn't it? No risk, no gain as they say. You could ignore this entirely, but that poses its own risks doesn't it?" Zexion leaned forward with Axel's confident smile. "So what will it be Luxord? Shall you gamble your life on me or Xemnas?"

There was several moments of silence while the two men stared each other down, each one thinking unreadable thoughts and prepared for battle in a second. This was a true test of Luxord's loyalty to the organization, or more specifically Xemnas. Zexion was running a bit of a gamble himself on the fact that he was not one of the original 6 founders, so it was harder to predict what he would do. All he could do was wait to see if Luxord had any belief in the 'mysterious intruder'.

"I'm not one to take a bet without all of the information." Luxord swirled a finger around meaningfully. It was clear his loyalties were as nonexistent as could be expected of a nobody. "Just because you managed to knock that fiery brute off and hold your own at a game doesn't mean much against Xemnas."

"I know of Xemnas' power, and it matters not in the face of the keyblade wielders doesn't it?" Zexion didn't miss the slight reaction on the others face. "Yes, I know where Roxas and Sora are."

Zexion said no more however, as just then, Xaldin strolled into the room, looking at Axel with a serious and cold expression. "Axel, you are summoned."

As if nothing had happened, Zexion went completely back into Axel. "Man I was just about to beat blondy here too!" He snapped his fingers and gave a heavy theatrical sigh. "Fine, fine, let's get this over with." He slowly got up and started walking after Xaldin, showing no sign of the fact he could be exposed and in serious trouble at any moment.

"Hey Xaldin!" The tall man turned to look cooly back at the blond.

"What is it Luxord, we are in a hurry here!"

"What's so important all of a sudden?"

"You will learn soon enough." While Xaldin turned his back and started walking, Axel turned around and gave Luxord and cheery grin and a thumbs up, a message clear enough to yet another over analytical member of the organization.

"I'll take that bet, Axel." Luxord couldn't help but look somewhat amused. "I look forward to seeing just how well you play."

'Axel' was given his marching orders, locate the world that Roxas was supposedly hiding in and break into it. Easy enough, now that he could move freely and command the lower nobodies as he pleased. As ever he sent them in first and let them do most of the work. It felt good to be simply commanding again, Zexion was not suited for doing everything himself. He missed Lexeaus, in the way a warrior would miss a great weapon of course.

Zexion was surprised to discover just how 'air tight' that little world was. He expected to be in the same day but his dusks were being destroyed and seriously hampering his operation. After several days though, he finally found a weak spot and the resident guardians were all somewhere else. He snuck inside and sent out a few more dusks to determine where Roxas was.

"Hmm…" Zexion 'listened' intently to the dumb things report, another plan forming easily in his mind. It would be no problem for someone of his skills to insert a spy now that he was relatively safely inside of the pocket dimension. He wondered just how having his memories wiped and being gone so long affected the lost number XIII. This tournament thing coming up was just what he need to judge that and determine what would be the best plan of action.

He set up his spy and retreated for the day, he needed to report back to Xemnas anyway. The nobody was starting to get impatient, but he would be pleased to know that Roxas should be in their hands tomorrow.

With the report taken care of, Zexion returned to Axel's room and slid down onto the bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling with his arms behind his head. After sharing a room for so long this one seemed very cold and empty, something Zexion was doing his best to attribute simply to comfort and habit. He had to keep himself from slipping back into that confused state, but he also couldn't let Demyx suffer too much. It was a fine line he had to walk.

After what seemed like hours of just staring, he finally felt the release of sleep take him, though he was plagued with alternating dreams for what little time he slept. It was if Axel's ghost was doing its best to disturb him, while Demyx's spirit did it's best to keep him away.

Finally he gave up on sleeping and simply got up, going through his morning ritual automatically and then heading out to see how his handiwork went.

It was harder to get in the second time, it was possible that they had noticed the disturbance before and he didn't fail to consider that it might be a trap, but that wasn't about to stop him. For the moment he would do his best to hide and see how things proceeded. It seemed that Roxas was quite cozy in this shadow world. Watching the boys fight with his 'friend', it was clear that Roxas hadn't lost any of his skill, but he was still only half a keyblade holder. If he was going to be the best tool possible…then he needed to join with Sora. Xemnas would not be pleased, but Roxas had been a problem even before he left so it would not be hard to talk his way around this. Or something.

Now it was time for the fight with his dusk, a fight that Zexion would have been disgusted if Roxas had somehow managed to loose. He didn't though, and now it was time for Axel to step out and do his thing. "Go Roxas, Fight, Fight Fight!" He let the shadows drop away as he moved forward, clapping appreciatively. "You haven't changed much."

"Who're you?"

"It's me, Axel, don't you remember?"

"Axel?..." It was clear that Roxas had absolutely no memory whatsoever.

"Ouch, talk about blank with a capital B." Axel chuckled weakly and ran a hand through his hair.

"What's going on here?" Axel didn't move as the keyblade was flung vaguely in his direction.

"This is his world right? Then there isn't any time for a Q & A." It was rather amusing to see Roxas so confused at the blade that would not leave him, as if it was his first encounter with a soul bound item. It didn't help the little blonds frustration.

"Fine, if you won't talk I'll beat it out of you!" The blond had reached his limit, clearly.

"We don't have much time, so conscious or not you're coming with me." Axel had to put on a good show at least. What was he going to do if no one arrived to save the other nobody? Fake it he supposed. He shrugged the thought off and pulled a mimicry of Axel's Chakrams out of the air, letting loose and trying not to make it too obvious that he was going easy on the blond, though he had to be careful not to let his guard down.

As he felt another presence coming, that maddeningly familiar scent with it, he let the fight end. "So it was you!" He pointed a chakram at the masked man, feeling the familiarness overwhelm him. For a moment there was a flash of long forgotten memory. Could this be someone that his somebody knew?

"Roxas, everything this man says is preposterous!" The masked man actually seemed to think Roxas was going to listen to him?

"Roxas, don't let him deceive you!" Zexion played the desperate, wounded friend well but in the end he ended up retreating. He knew he'd have to put in a better effort than that to please Xemnas though.


	12. Chapter 12

He returned to his hiding spot in the real Twilight town for now and practically flooded the simulated world with his minions. The town wasn't meant to handle so much and it was possible he would be able to crash it. As time passed and there was still only mild fluxuations he realized he had underestimated the man from his somebody past. He would figure out who it was eventually, but it was incidental to his making this a good act.

Since this was taking longer than expected, Zexion went ahead and returned to the castle for the moment. In all honesty he was worried about Demyx. He was just so sensitive it was hard to predict how he was going to deal with this. When he arrived he was immediately attacked by Saix, stopping him from finding Demyx for the moment.

"Number VIII!" The blue haired nobody strode over like a bull charging an irritation.

Axel stopped his leisurely stroll out of the portal room and turned his head to look at Saix with a bored/weary expression. "Yeah, yeah, I know, why haven't I got Roxas yet? I told you I'm working on it! There's just some-!"

"That's enough VIII." Saix's expression didn't change from that cold mask that was his until he exploded. Zexion really hated him. He was glad that Axel wasn't very close to him anymore; that could have really made this act troublesome. "Xemnas wants to speak to you."

Axel's face fell a bit and he sighed. "I see, well let's get this party over with." He rubbed the back of his head irritably for a moment and then turned to follow the other nobody to the meeting room. He was half hoping half expecting silence for the whole walk, but to his displeasure that would not be the case.

"You've been avoiding me, Axel." Now he was using his name, being Axel's 'friend' now.

"Are you sure it hasn't been the other way around?" He'd snip any chance of the two of them going back to something even resembling the friend state they'd had before castle oblivion. "You spend all day kissy kissy with the boss, gotta be hard to find time for anything else." He kept his voice equally amused and biting.

He could tell by the tense set of the shoulders that he hit a bit of a nerve there. "You could find yourself in better regard if you'd had a better choice in a new friend and actions."

Axel waved a hand dismissively. "You've had a happy little ride up the ladder, thanks to my help. I have no interest in ass kissing, I do my job and I'm just fine where I am."

"Hn…" Those golden eyes glanced back at him for a moment before returning forward, just as they entered their destination. Saix bowed and left while Axel strolled to the middle of the meeting room.

"Yo, Xemnas, What's up?~" He wasn't going to act too cowed too easily.

"You have as yet to bring us Roxas, you aren't aiding him are you?"

Zexion let the nonchalant expression drop into a bit of a frown. "You don't really think I'm that stupid do you boss? I'll have him soon, the one who made the city is a tricky one but I've got in once I can do it again." Axel would have every reason to want to have Roxas return, they should know that.

"If he still refuses to come with you, then he is more trouble than he is worth. Either he comes back or you will destroy him, understand?" Xemnas' eyes bore into his own.

Axel struggled to keep his face a mask of relative calm. "B-but…" He knew he wasn't going to change his mind, so he left before 'Axel' lost his calm. "I understand." He turned and walked out swiftly. This didn't change his plans, though the consequences of what he would do would be somewhat greater after this. "Hmm…"

He had almost forgotten that he'd come here to check up on Demyx, only stopping abruptly a couple feet out of his portal as it came back to him. "Tch." He sighed and tossed a bit of hair back before turning to head back into the castle. While Demyx's scent was everywhere, it soon became clear he must be out on some sort of mission. "Of course…" He put a very Axel like hand to his head and shook it. It would turn out this way.

_Guess there's nothing to do then. _He thought and took his portal back to his hiding spot, freezing instantly as he realized it had been found. He threw himself to the side a split second before a certain sword once again nearly cleft him in two. He caught himself and jumped backwards, summoning the 'chakrams' though he was already preparing to leave this fight. He had no intention of tangling with Riku again.

"You can't have him!" Riku hissed at him, clearly he was anticipating having his friend back. How ironic that they were really working for the same thing, at least for the moment.

After a few quick exchanges they both backed off to give each other the stare down. "You can't stop the Organization." That was Zexions' job, and with that the nobody took his chance and vanished, feeling the air of that blade meeting him through the portal, but thankfully not the blade or it's wielder. He took a moment to lean against a wall in town and catch his breath, he wasn't sure if it was because Riku was involved in his near death but he was suddenly exhausted. He quickly pushed himself away and started moving, he knew Riku wouldn't give up on him so easily or so he thought, however as time passed he realized he wasn't being pursued, and that made him suspicious. Either they were tracking him somehow or things were very close to being done with Sora. It was time to pull out all the stops then.

He was less subtle about his breaking into the simulated town this time; he had to keep up with his Axel persona, who would be desperate to get his friend back. He stepped out of the alley right behind Roxas, a less than pleased expression on his face. "Now look what it's come to. I've been given these icky orders to destroy you if you don't come with me."

Roxas seemed to be coming back to himself, or getting used to all the oddness. He turned to face 'Axel' relatively calm. "But we're best friends…right?"

"Well yeah, but I'm not being turned into a duck for…" Zexion couldn't tell if he really remembered or not, a simple test would do the trick though. "Wait, you remember?"

"Yeah…" That kid's expression…said probably not.

"Ah, gotta be sure though…um…what's our bosses name?" Axel looked both excited and nervous. When Zexion was masquerading as someone sometimes it seemed like there was both him and the pseudo persona existing in his head. He could feel and know the disappointment the pseudo persona would feel as the silence continued. He'd never had to masquerade as someone for quite this long for a continuous time before. "Guess not." Roxas was just trying to trick him. "There's no helping it then!" His face became a mask as the chakrams appeared and then…Roxas was gone.

"…tch." They'd frozen the town to let him get away. It took a few moments for Zexion to remember that Roxas joining with Sora was something he wanted. 'Axel' was becoming far too prominent all of a sudden, it must be from his newly broken barriers. Once broken they never were as strong. Damn the trouble Demyx could cause him! "I see how it is…my Roxas is long gone."

Did he want to stop it or did he want let it continue? The Axel persona he'd created was raging to stop it and he found himself in the complex before he quite knew how it happened. He pulled himself somewhat back together and hid his presence while the lower nobodies did their best to hamper the keyblade holding nobody, with all the success of a rock. He still wasn't entirely calm as Roxas reached his hiding place. "Simply amazing Roxas." He showed himself in the center of the room.

"Axel." There was surety in Roxas' voice now, his memories had really come back.

"You really remember me this time," The near calm he'd achieved was lost as the Axel persona got to him again. "I'M SO FLATTERED!" His chakrams appeared in an instant. "But you're too late!" He fought more like Axel than he thought quite possible, putting far more into this fight than he had ever planned on. The keyblade holder was truly impressive, even only half of him.

Finally Zexion managed to break off the fight, panting heavily. Once Roxas joined with Sora, he would be a fine tool indeed. Now though…he'd had plenty of being Axel. "Let's meet again…in the next life."

The silly blond nodded. "Yeah, I'll be waiting."

Zexion couldn't help but chuckle. "Silly…just because you have a next life." He let it seem like he had faded away and retreated to a secluded area of the real town, now truly exhausted. Going back to the castle…could wait. He needed to be himself for a while. With some effort he set an illusion of Axel to keep anyone searching for Axel busy and retreated to a secluded area as himself. It was a relief to be in his own body again. He could let down the act and rest for just a bit…and within seconds he was out like a light.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Sorry for the really long wait guys, hopefully I can get the ball rolling and not be crushed by college this time. Thanks so much for all the favs/etc though!

Ch 13

When Zexion awoke it was dark and he was not alone. For a split second he tensed, preparing for trouble, but his mind caught up with the situation and realized who it was. There was only one person who could come upon him while he was sleeping and not set off some sort of warning. He sat up slowly looking around the corner of the tunnel area they were in, just to make sure there wasn't anyone else there, and to try and calm the rush of emotions he felt at the thought of Demyx. He wasn't ready to look at the other nobody yet.

He put it off as long as possible, but he was hungry for it, so finally he let his eyes drop to the sleeping nobody next to him. His breath caught for a moment at just how peaceful he looked. It had been a long time since he'd looked that content, even while asleep.

Zexion felt a hint of guilt creep up on him and he firmly squashed it before it could get any farther. He just watched him sleep for a few moments, then his hand crept out to brush away one of his odd bangs and a soft sigh escaped him. What was wrong with him, truly? How could remembered emotions be so troublesome?

He remained simply watching Demyx for some time more until he caught a whiff of an unwelcome scent. His blue eyes went cold as he raised himself and looked over at the ever grinning Xigbar. "Is there something you want Xigbar?"

The grin on the freeshooters face only widened and he waved a camera tauntingly. "That sweet little picture was all an old man could ask for~" Before Zexion could do anything to destroy it he clicked another one and vanished.

"…That…" The anger was plain on Zexions' face as he strived to come up with the proper word to describe the freeshooter.

"nnnghh…" Zexions' eyes flickered down as he noticed Demyx stirring. "Zexy?..." Those ocean blue eyes slowly opened and blinked sleepily at him. Zexion felt a sensation one could almost describe as melting at that site and he did his best to ignore it.

"Yes, I'm here Demyx." Zexion let himself sink back down, knowing that Xigbar had left for the moment.

Demyxs' eyes became a bit more alive and he sat up to cling to his lover. "I'm so glad you're safe…" When he'd heard that 'Axel' had just disappeared after the fight with Roxas he was afraid that Zexion really had overdone it this time.

"I'm fine Demyx…" Zexion felt like he was going to be crushed, but he was used to that at this point. "I was just a bit tired. Everything is still going to plan."

Demyx winced at those words, getting to the point where he was seriously hating 'the plan'. "Zexion…how much longer is this going to take?!" He was doing his best to keep himself under control, but it was hard.

"Just a bit." Zexion rubbed Demyxs' back reassuringly. "We can't rush this though; we can't spend eternity running from the organization." He was extra aware of his use of 'we' at this moment, trying to figure out just when everything turned weird like this. No matter how many times he went through this Zexion just refused to accept the strange changes that had come over him.

"Zexy…" Demyx looked at him with those moist hurt eyes and his inner turmoil melted away for the moment as he leaned up to kiss the other nobody softly, wrapping his arms around his neck. He needed him so desperately all of a sudden. The same fire that had erupted in him so long ago bubbled up once again and almost before either of them knew it they were against a wall and their clothes were nearly gone. At this moment neither of them cared if anyone might come along and see them, all they cared about was the volcano of desire that had erupted in both of them.

Once they had both calmed down somewhat neither of them felt like doing any more than crawling into bed and dying, especially Zexion. There was a slight problem with that though, leaving Zexion staring broodingly into the darkness while he tried to stay awake and figure out what he was going to do with 'Axel'.

Finally, Zexion could put it off no longer and woke the nobody next to him. "Demyx." The blond must have really worn himself out with all this silly emotional vagaries. But there was no time for him to rest, he could do so when they returned to the castle. "Demyx!" He shook the nocturne firmly and he slowly blinked his eyes open, looking half there at best. "Demyx, we need to return to the castle, pull yourself together."

"Zexy…" Demyx latched onto the smaller nobody, buried his head in his shoulder, and passed out again.

"…" Zexion was feeling a strong urge to give him a good smack. Normally he would have filled the others sleep with horrific images or the like but even in his annoyed state he couldn't do that to the pathetic thing hanging on his shoulder. He gave a dark sigh and deliberated on just what would be his best next move. He tried to detach himself and failed miserably; he was just no match for the larger man's strength. "Demyx you wake up this instant!" His sharp commanding tone snapped Demyx awake in an instant. He had been woken up too many times under the sharp tongue of one senior member or another.

"I'msorryiwon't-" Demyx belatedly realized he wasn't at the castle or in trouble. Well at least not in the castle. The annoyed expression on Zexion's face made the latter somewhat questionable. "Zexy-"

"We need to clean up and get back to the castle." He would have to be Axel for a bit longer, until the keyblade holder got himself together.

Demyx blinked a few times in confusion before his brain caught up with their current situation. "Oh! A-ah yeah…" He still looked awfully confused and Zexion pulled him up with a sigh before pulling the other nobody through a shadow portal. They came out in an empty bathroom, possibly in a hotel but with the door shut it was hard to say. You could be sure it was safe though.

"Clean yourself." Zexion tossed his clothes next to the sink and turned the shower on as hot as he could stand. It only took Demyx a couple moments to snap out of it and join him. There was no playing around; they were too focused on getting clean. Once done they stepped out and shamelessly used the towels hanging from the racks.

The two finished dressing in quick order, but as it came time to return Demyx hesitated in front of the portal, shifting his weight back and forth on his feet with a decidedly unhappy expression. Zexion watched him in silence for a few moments, his calm expression hiding the chaos inside. "C-can't we just run away right now!" Demyx's eyes held the start of tears. He didn't want to go back. He didn't want to pick up this charade again. And he especially didn't want Zexion turning back into Axel and acting so distant again.

Zexion just managed to stop from heaving a heavy sigh. He stepped closer to the other nobody, slipping into his arms. He noticed suddenly that he seemed to fit just perfectly against him, but he quickly put the thought aside. "I know it's hard Demyx." He lifted a hand a gently caressed the others cheek. "But we will have no freedom unless we win it. And a need you." His crystal blue eyes were serious. "I can't do this without you." He let the multiple meanings of that statement hang in the air.

Demyx blinked furiously, trying to get the tears under control. He was trying really hard to see things from Zexion's point of view but all he saw was many more months of deception. Many more months of seeing only Axel and not the one he loved.

Zexion closed his eyes and dropped his head on the others chest, taking a few moments to think. There had to be something to get through to him but the fake emotions were clouding his thoughts. Just then, Xigbar stepped out of the portal they had foolishly left open. All other fake emotions were lost in the wake of pure irritation. He turned around, still encircled in the now panicking blonds arms. "Can you not see I am busy, II?" He voice was indifferent, though Xigbar surely knew he was displeased to see him.

"You're taking too long." Xigbar crossed his arms, looking over the two with a nasty grin. "If you don't want your secret blown in the next 20 minutes you'd better get back to the castle now."

"Why?" Zexion inwardly cursed, what had happened while he was gone?

"The keyblade master has returned. Xemnas wants to take his measure."

"So they managed to reunite the two then." Zexion frowned lightly and glanced over his shoulder at Demyx who looked both confused and unhappy now. He had to address this somehow. If being gentle wasn't doing it then he would have to change tactics. "We'll be through in a minute Xigbar."

The freeshooter tilted his head, considering if he wanted to follow that clear dismissal or not. He finally decided his presence would be detrimental to the game and went on ahead through the portal. "Don't dawdle with your love-making you two~" He left with a cackle.

Zexion ignored it in favor of putting both hands on Dexmy's face now. "Demyx, pull yourself together." His tone was sharp. "We don't have time for your indecision, this has to be done." He felt like he was cutting himself with every word, seeing the pain and shock on the blonds face. He would do whatever it took to get both of them through this though.

"Fine." The blonds tone and expression was a mix of hurt and sulky, but he let go of the smaller nobody and stepped through the portal without a second glance. Zexion waited a few moments longer to pull himself together. The Axel disguise settled over him once more just as he stepped into the darkness.

All of the nobodies were assembled in the throne room. Their attention was mixed between Axel and Xemnas, who was speaking at the moment. "Seeing as VIII failed to bring Roxas back, plans will have to be changed." The silver haired nobody set one arm on his chair and leaned on it with an amused smile. "That being said, all is not lost. The keyblade bearer has all the reason in the universe to destroy heartless and with some guidance from us he may be even more useful than Roxas." He straightened then. "So we will go and meet Sora and see just what he is made of."

Everyone vanished in clouds of darkness, one by one until Axel and Demyx were left. Axel's green eyes fixed on Demyx's blue for a moment before he vanished as well, and a moment later the room was empty.

The meeting with Sora was anticlimactic. Zexion was not impressed, but then the boys nobody hadn't been very impressive either so he shouldn't be too surprised. He retreated to his room like a moody Axel would and stayed up late plotting what he would do from here.


	14. Chapter 14

"Axel!"

Zexion turned around and looked at the blond running towards him in surprise. "What is it Demyx?" Zexion was sure he was supposed to be out on a mission right now.

"It-it's" He degenerated into a bunch of incoherent babbling. Zexion tugged him into a more secluded place and tried to make some sense of it. Apparently this 'underworld' place they had sent him too was not very friendly.

Zexion double checked that no one was around before putting his hands on the other's shoulders and gently shaking him to silence. "Calm down Demyx, I'm sure there's a way around this. Just give me a minute to find it and then we'll show them how it's done." He cast a bubble of invisibility around them both and then summoned the Lexicon. It floated in front of him and slowly opened, flipping through pages until it found what he was looking for. There was a stone they could use to retain their strength in the underworld. That should do the trick. "Okay Demyx, this is what we are going to do. We're going to go back to the place you just were, but to Mt. Olympus instead of the underworld. When we get there I am going to distract the gods there and you are going to sneak into the armory and steal the Olympus stone." He had the Lexicon flip around and show Demyx what he was looking for. "With this you shouldn't have any more problems."

Demyx looked at him as if he was crazy. "You're going to distract the –gods-? As in plural?! Just Hades was too much for me!"

Zexion sighed and gave Demyx a half amused, half annoyed look. "Demyx, I am the Master of Illusions. They will never get anywhere near me. These gods in particular are not the brightest; it is easy to trick them." Depending which gods were up there at the moment at least.

Demyx did not look entirely convinced. "Alright…"

Zexion opened the portal. "Wait a couple minutes and then go through." He stepped into the darkness, blinking a bit at the overly bright mountain top he'd just arrived at. He sniffed lightly and determined that there were not many gods home at the moment. He only detected 4.

He moved deeper into the compound, noting who he had to deal with. The two who must be Zeus and Hera seemed busy in the great hall but the other two gods were right in the way of getting the stone. He cloaked himself in invisibility and thought for a few moments. A smallish form appeared above his head and flew in on winged shoes. "Warning, Warning! The Titans have been freed!"

Immediately Athena came to attention. "What? How-" She paused and her eyes narrowed. "Where's Aphrodite's Sash, Hermes?"

Zexion immediately knew things were about to get interesting. The illusion gave her an incredulous look. "You are worrying about that at a time like this?!"

"What's going on here?" The crippled god now limped out of his forge next to the Armory.

"Hermes says that the Titans have been freed." Athena didn't even look at Hephaestus. "However…" Zexion was already summoning hordes of dusks as she threw her spear through the illusion, making it shatter into a thousand pieces. "It seems we have a different kind of intruder." Zexion moved swiftly away from the scene, not staying to watch Athena blow through the dusks like they were paper.

"Athena wait!" Hephaestus hobbled after her a few steps and then gave up. "I should tell the others." He slowly made his way up to the great hall, unaware of the other figure that slipped out of the shadows behind him and into the building he had just left.

Running was not Zexion's strong point, but he had to keep it up long enough for Demyx to get the stone. He felt, more than saw, Athena's owl swooping down and threw himself sideways. He missed most of the attack, feeling a slight bit of shadow blood oozing from a cut along his neck.

He let the illusion fall back to Axel, though his hood was up so he needn't worry about discovery. He started moving just in time to nearly be skewered by Athena's spear. He cursed softly and danced backwards, pulling an illusionary sword out to defend himself with. The dusks had slowed her down only a little. It was time to take things into his own hands. They exchanged a few blows before he heard a familiar cry behind him. "Zexion!" He cursed again. That nobody did not listen well. He avoided one last attack from Athena before turning and flat out running at the other nobody, who had his sitar out and managed to slow the goddess down just enough for Zexion to tackle him into a portal before they both were killed.

"You idiot!" Zexion sat on Demyx's chest and glared down at him. "I don't remember telling you to come help me!"

Demyx dropped one of those heartbreakingly sweet smiles. "But you didn't tell me not to either."

Zexion had no reply to that. He just stared down at the blond as if he was the strangest creature in the universe. Even after Zexion's coldness Demyx still had that smile for him. It just did not make sense. He finally got off the other and helped him up. "Did you get the stone first at least?"

Demyx held up a palm sized disk. "Yep."

"It could have been worse then." Zexion rubbed his head for a moment. "Now, quickly finish your mission before anyone thinks something is wrong." He tilted his head. "Actually, did you say you had run into Sora?" Demyx nodded and handed over the mission note. Zexion scanned it before nodding. "Still trying to get Roxas back…" He mused aloud. "I think it's a bit early for that." Or maybe he just didn't want to let the organization to have that power. "When you fight him, for I am sure you will have to, drop the stone and return. It will pass well enough and we don't have to worry about our best weapon getting into more than he can handle." Demyx's reputation was quite useful sometimes. With that he opened a portal back, pausing long enough to give Demyx a rare smile. "Be careful." Then he was gone.

Demyx carried out the plan perfectly. Superior was annoyed but not entirely surprised that Demyx had 'failed' yet again. "So you're telling me that Roxas still refuses to surface?"

Demyx nodded, anxious to be away from the spot he had been in far too often. The meeting room was set up perfectly to make whoever was standing in the middle to feel like a bug. "There was no sign of him, the keyblade wielder had no idea either. He thought I was just trying to confuse him!" He couldn't help but look a bit offended at that. Trickery was not his style.

Xemnas smiled darkly at that. "Stubborn and stupid, Sora is." He looked off into the distance, clearly done with the report. Demyx turned gratefully to leave. "One last thing, Demyx." The blond turned warily to face the superior once more. "Don't fail me again." Demyx looked somewhat pale as he nodded and left the room so quickly there should have been a dust cloud following him.

He didn't slow until he reached his room, falling into bed and just shuddering uncontrollably. The look in Xemnas' eyes spoke of bad things to happen the next time. He stayed like that for a long time before he finally managed to get a hold of himself. He needed to tell Zexion. He would know what to do.

Demyx slipped out of bed and hurried out into the hallway, his eyes darting back and forth as he debated where Zexion/Axel might be. He finally decided on trying his room first. He arrived there a short while later to find it deserted and cleaner than it had _ever_ been while Axel had been alive. "He must be out on a mission then…" He felt his excited hope fade a bit and he threw himself down into a chair dejectedly.

By the time Axel returned, he was deeply asleep and in imminent danger of sprawling his way out of the chair. Zexion sighed, in a fond way, and moved to straighten his silly lover. "Demyx." He murmured softly. "Wake up." As usual, the blond was not so inclined. He seemed to be having somewhat disturbing dreams as well. "Demyx!" Zexion repeated himself, louder this time. The blond startled awake and completely out of the chair despite Zexion's best efforts to stop him.

"Ow!" Demyx whimpered as he rubbed the back of his head, belatedly realizing where he was and who was with him. He smiled happily and tackled the other nobody. "Thank goodness you're back!"

Zexion staggered under the weight while his mind immediately picked up on the suspicious phrasing. "What happened?"

Demyx hugged the other tightly. "Superior…is not very happy with me." He wilted immediately at the memory. "He said I'd better not fail him again. And he gave me that _look_!" A shiver passed through him.

Zexion looked only a little worried, his planning expression was dominate. "So, Xemnas is getting a little antsy hmm?"

Sometimes Demyx really wished his lover would be more emotional. He had wanted Zexion to have a plan, but the more primal part of him just wanted to be hugged and told everything would be alright.

His disappointment must have been plain on his face for Zexion immediately softened and smiled at his lover reassuringly. "You'll be alright. I already have a plan. The next time you're sent to deal with Sora, we'll be ready."

"Ready?" Demyx tilted his head curiously. "Ready for what?"

Zexion smiled his old smile, which looked a little out of place on Axels face. "Ready to fool the organization once again." He leaned up to kiss the other. "And to finally make you safe."

Demyx was still mostly confused, but he believed in Zexion and he could only be hopeful at the sound of safety. Was this horrible charade finally near its end?

Despite the possible danger, they slept together that night. This time there were no unwelcome visitors. Zexion woke up early and shooed the Nocturne back to his own room and business as usual.

It was not too much later after that when things really started to get interesting.


	15. Chapter 15

"Hey look! It's a guy!"

"He looks kinda scary…maybe you shouldn't go near him Susie!"

He felt small warm hands touching his face tentatively. He groaned softly and shook his head, as if trying to get rid of a bug. He felt like shit and wasn't ready to get up yet. A squeak and a few prods to the cheek later, he peeled open his eyelids to reveal bright green eyes that shrank at the bright sun pounding above him. "W..what?..." He squinted upwards and tried to put his head together around the pounding headache he had.

"He's awake!" He caught sight of two scruffy looking girls just before they dashed away to safety. He frowned and rubbed his forehead before sitting up and looking around. "Is this...Agrabah?" Memories slowly trickled into his brain and abruptly he was on his feet. "Roxas!" A puff of darkness later he was gone.

He entered the castle in his room. Its state was an immediate clue that something strange was going on. He slipped out of his room and into Demyx's. The Nocturne was out, but he was willing to wait.

Some 5 hours later Demyx finally entered. He was looking rather harried but as soon as he saw his visitor his face lit up. "Axel!" He rushed over and hugged the decidedly confused redhead who had been chilling on the other nobodies bed. "I thought you were out monitoring Sora?"

It took a few moments for Axel to overcome his shock. "Sora?..." He blinked rapidly and regained his composure. "Well I finished early and decided to come and see you." He did his best warm smile, clearly Demyx and 'him' had some sort of relationship going on.

Demyx looked slightly confused but the treat of seeing his lover seemed to dominate whatever seemed a bit off. His smile brightened and he tackled Axel to the bed, kissing him with a happy noise. At that point he immediately realized something was wrong. He pushed himself up and looked down at the other with a concerned frown. "Zexion, is something wrong?"

_Ah, so that's what happened._ Axel thought to himself while smiling and shaking his head. Demyx wasn't as safe to contact as it seemed then. "It's just been a long day." He scooted up to a sitting position, thinking fast. "Has there been any sign of Roxas?" That was all he really cared about.

Demyx looked even more confused this time. "You were watching Sora all day…you would know more than me." The blond may have been a bit slow but clearly he was starting to be suspicious of what was going on here.

Luckily for Axel, he now had all that he needed to know to proceed. There was no hiding his return from Demyx and Zexion, the secret would come out as soon as the two met up for real. So he didn't bother. One Chakram formed in his right hand and came up to rest under Demyx's chin. "I suppose that would be, if I was that one." He grinned. "I see Zexion's got everything set up as he would like here. Tell him I don't care about what happened, but if he wants to use Sora he'd better do it quick because I will get Roxas back, got it memorized?" He held no grudge against the Schemer for trying to kill him. He hoped he wouldn't try to do so again but he'd deal with that later.

"A-Ax-" Demyx was having a bit of a problem getting the words out past the very sharp weapon against his very soft skin. He had no idea what to do here.

"Chillax." Axel let himself off the bed without taking his weapon from Demyx's neck. "You couldn't very well deliver my message if I kill you." With a chuckle he quickly stepped back into a portal, appearing somewhere else in The World that Never Was. He couldn't stay long but it was safe enough for the moment. He had to figure out what to do and deal with the unpleasant shock of Roxas joining back up with Sora.

Demyx remained as he was for several moments after Axel left, breathing heavily as he waited for the fear and surprise to leave him. He had only one thought now. He had to find Zexion. They were about to be in trouble.

He found the 'actual' Axel returning from his self-appointed mission, observing things with Luxord in Port Royal. "Z-Axel!" He barely stopped himself from shouting. His lover looked at him curiously as he grabbed him and pulled him into the nearest empty room. He shut the door before turning and enveloping Zexion in a tight hug. Even still disguised as Axel, he felt right. His reactions were the same. This really was his Axel/Zexion. He heaved a sigh of relief and dropped his head on the others shoulder. "He's back Zexy…he's back and he wants Roxas!"

Zexion stiffened. "He? Roxas? Demyx calm down and explain properly." It took all he had not to speak sharply.

"A-axel! He snuck into my room…I thought he was you! H-he said to t-tell you that he didn't c-care what h-happened but you'd better…you'd better use Sora quick because he was going to get Roxas back." Demyx was doing his best to pull himself back together but he was sure their whole ruse was about to blow up in their faces.

"Well…" Zexion had a slight frown, but he didn't seem as concerned as Demyx thought was appropriate. "This does complicate things, but can still be accommodated."

"What do you mean? Axel is back, he's going to blow this thing sky high!"

Zexion grabbed his chin and forced him to meet his eyes. "It's fine Demyx. It just means I will end this sooner than expected. Axel will no doubt draw their attention while we disappear. From there we will see just how much our goals conflict."

"Dis..appear?" Demyx wished Zexion would just explain everything, especially to him. He had been at his side from the very beginning of this and he was still being left in the dark a lot!

"Yes Demyx, Axel can take his role back, and I am going to get you away from here."

Demyx blinked in only slightly less confusion. "So-?"

Zexion glanced towards the door and dropped his hand. "I will explain in detail soon, when it is time to move. Now I need to drop this disguise and see what Axel is up to. I will find you again and we will- " He dropped off as Xigbar let himself in via his space warps. "So, has he moved already?"

"I'm going to assume you're talking about…you." Xigbar had an entirely too amused expression. "He seems awfully lively for a dead guy. Maybe you should work on that."

Zexion shrugged lightly as he turned to face the other man, still wrapped in Demyx's arms. "I underestimated his ability to learn from me. If I feel the need to finish the job, I won't do so again."

Xigbar raised an eyebrow. "If? Had a change of heart have you?" He smirked. "You aren't going soft are you, Zexion?"

Zexion felt Demyx's arms tighten around him and put a reassuring hand on top of his. "No such thing. I no longer see the need and he may be useful. Saix is the one who will receive the full weight of my displeasure." This was perhaps the most of his plan that he had revealed to the freeshooter.

"Well, he's gone and kidnapped that girl of Sora's. You know, the redhead." Xigbar waved off his inability to remember the name. "Saix and Xaldin are getting ready to take her instead."

Zexion was silent for a few moments. "Interesting." He dropped the Axel illusion and flicked his hair. "Next part of the plan then." With that, he and Demyx vanished into the darkness.

They came out in a secluded area of the library, which Zexion immediately cloaked so no one could see or overhear them. He sighed softly and leaned against his lover. "Brash as always…he's not doing a good job of preserving the life he worked so hard to keep."

Demyx looked at him curiously. "You almost sound like you feel sorry for him."

Zexion shook his head and pulled away from the other. "Hardly. Since he had managed to fool me, I expected him to make a more intelligent move." He turned and smiled at his lover. "It doesn't really matter now though. Axel will do as he will and my concern is you."

"Me?" It seemed Demyx had already forgotten what he had said earlier.

Zexion rolled his eyes and sighed again. "Remember? I said after I found out what Axel was up to I was going to get you out of here, safely." Demyx did not look any more comprehending. "Well, no matter. Soon Xemnas will send you to fight with Sora once more. This time, you are going to lose for good."

"W-what?!" Demyx stared at him with wide shocked eyes.

"We are going to orchestrate your death."

"Oh."

Demyx and a cloaked Zexion stood atop one of the cliffs, watching the masses of heartless swarm through the canyon while Sora dashed to meet them. "Now, make sure when I take over that you continue to support with your water. There can't be any holes in this."

Demyx took a deep breath and nodded before transporting himself down and in front of the keyblade party. He was more than a little nervous. He didn't know what to say. "Hey, you guys are looking lively." He inwardly cursed, that was horrible! And they looked so hostile!

"Didn't we catch you messing around in the Underworld? How did a wimp like you get into Organization XIII? I bet you can't even fight!"

The keyblade wielders scornful voice snapped him out of his nervous contemplation. "You shouldn't judge anyone by appearance." He shook his finger at the brat, flinching back as they all got ready to attack him once again. "I told them they were sending the wrong guy…" He muttered unhappily to himself. Even if he was going to be away from the Organization after this, he still didn't want to fight. He could but he didn't like it.

He tried to ignore the parties babbling behind him while he tried to gather up his nerve, feeling a sting as they claimed his kind had no hearts. They had no idea. "Oh, we do too have hearts! Don't be mad!" He loved Zexion with all of his supposedly nonexistent heart.

Of course, the stubborn fools didn't believe a word. "You can't trick us!"

He'd had enough of this. He pulled himself together with an effort and pulled a cool pose, managing a good serious expression. "Silence, traitor." He summoned his water forms to keep them busy while Zexion prepared his illusion, or spells, or whatever.

His forms were gone much faster than he expected, and the illusion had still not taken over. He grit his teeth and got serious, summoning his water to its full potential. Explosions of water flew up all over the battlefield, sending the pesky runts in all directions while he did his best to look like he was seriously attacking them and avoid actual engagement.

It seemed like forever before he saw the shimmer over him which pulled away like a second skin, looking just like him and mimicking the moves he had just been using in battle. So that was it, Zexion had needed enough illusion material to make the fight look good. He retreated to a corner and focused on using his water to back up the illusions movements until Zexion decided they had made a sufficiently convincing show.

It was very strange and disconcerting to watch himself fade away, but he was much happier to be alive and able to return to the cliff top, where Zexion was waiting for him. Now that the fight was over he felt both tired and excited.

"Good job Demyx." Zexion gave him a special smile, knowing how much those words would mean to the blond. "You seem pretty worn out, you can go to the safe house if you want. I am going to stay here and observe how things turn out."

Demyx immediately wrapped his arms around the other tightly. "No. I will stay too." He felt like a child clinging to their mom, but Zexion had been so distant from him for so long and now that he finally had him back he was reluctant to let him out of his sight for a second.

Zexion gave him an unreadable look but nodded and relaxed into his grip. "Very well, let us find a better vantage point then." They moved farther into the maze of hills, shadowing Sora. It was slow going, since Demyx refused to release Zexion for a moment. They shuffled awkwardly and tried not to fall over. Zexion tolerated it for a while but finally stopped and gave the blond an irritated look. "I'm not going to run away if you let me go, so stop this silliness so we can actually get something done." Sora had long since outpaced them, despite stopping to fight heartless at every turn.

"B-but…" Demyx pulled out his best puppy dog look.

Zexion's serious expression waved. He held out as long as he could before dropping his eyes with a flush and sighing heavily. "And they call me conniving." He tugged away and took the blonds hand. "Will this satisfy you?" At least with the spell of invisibility no one but Demyx would see his embarrassment.

Demyx thought about it for a moment before nodding and giving him a radiant smile.

"Good." He turned and quickly headed up the path, practically dragging the other nobody along until they heard a familiar voice.

"Way to fall right into their trap." Axel's sarcastic tones could not be mistaken. They hurried up until they were on the ledge opposite to where he was leaning. The keyblade trio was in front of him, looking confused as ever. "C'mon, it's a set-up by organization XIII. Xemnas is using you to destroy the Heartless-that's his big master plan."

Donald spoke up finally. "Xemnas?"

Zexion smirked a bit at the exasperation on the redheads face. "The guy you just saw. He's their leader. Got it memorized? X-E-M, N-A-S."

The other dog like creature spoke up. "Organization 13 wants to get rid of the heartless?"

"Man you're slow."

Zexion rolled his eyes and leaned back against his lover, having no interest in information he already had. He didn't think too hard about how easy and automatic these touches were. It hadn't done him any good so far. "This is not proving as interesting as I expected." He was tired suddenly. Perhaps it was from watching so many slow people in one area.

"Axel." All 3 of the renegade nobodies snapped to attention at that voice, even though two were safely hidden.

Axel vanished while the two on the Cliffside backed up ever so slightly, their eyes scanning the area. Xemnas was probably around too, but they saw no sign of him. Zexion put a finger to his lips, warning Demyx to be quite while they watched the truly pathetic scene in front of them. Watching Sora was sickening for the nobody who despised emotions as weakness. It did however give him valuable insight into just how ruled by that pathetic heart the keyblade bearer was.

Finally he'd had enough and motioned Demyx back until they were far enough away to leave the area without alerting anyone. They appeared in what looked like a normal living room, except the windows opened out only into a familiar grayness. Zexion moved over to one of the couches and lay down. Adrenaline from all the excitement had been keeping him going long past the point where he would have been very tired normally. Now they were safe however, and taking up the plan could wait until he had recovered.

Zexion was vaguely aware of Demyx squeezing himself onto the couch and draping over the smaller nobody, almost protectively. A ghost of a smile tugged its way onto his lips before he passed out, sleeping the best he'd had in months, while the blond cradled him until he too feel asleep.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: So...initially this part was going to be lots of fluff and such and essentially a break from the storyline to just enjoy ourselves for a bit. It did not turn out this way. I apologize.

* * *

For once, Demyx woke up before Zexion. The blond opened his eyes to the pleasant surprise of a very peaceful looking lover nestled in his arms. This was the first time since Twilight town that he had gotten to wake up to his beloveds form. He'd come to accept the times when Zexion would not drop Axel's even while they were being intimate, but he never had to like it.

For a while, he simply cuddled the sleeping form and enjoyed the novelty. Eventually his feelings of utter happiness drove him to explore their hiding place, namely the kitchen. He wanted to make something special for their first day here.

It was a task to get off the couch. He didn't want to wake Zexion, who had become very clingy in his sleep. It took more patience then Demyx thought he had to disentangle himself repeatedly until he actually managed to slip out of the smaller nobodies grasp.

He resisted the urge to go back and sneak a kiss, for he would surely be trapped once again, and reluctantly turned and slipped into the hallway on the left. The place was bigger than he expected. He passed up 3 rooms before the hallway took a sharp turn and let him into the kitchen.

He stopped in the entryway just to admire it. The castle was white, white and more white. The members could personalize their rooms, but there was only so much you could do to cover the horrible white.

Zexions' main theme for the kitchen was blue-green marble. It was gorgeous, and there was a lot of it. There were two large ovens, every appliance you could think of, a large fridge and a walk in pantry with a walk in freezer inside. Above the range and along the walls were all sorts of pots, pans and utensils. Demyx had no idea what had driven Zexion to create such an extravagant kitchen for just the two of them.

It looked so neat and perfect that he hated to ruin it, but a grumble from his stomach stilled any serious consideration of not doing so. He gingerly pulled down one of the too-nice skillets and placed it on the smaller stove. He then spent two minutes just staring at it blankly while he tried to decide what to make. _What does Zexion normally eat?_ He pondered to himself, now pacing around the range. He hated to admit it, but he'd been far too busy either ignoring Zexion/Axel while they were at breakfast, or brooding on how much he hated that disguise and not really paying attention to anything.

He finally stopped back in front of the stove and heaved a sigh. "Ugh, fine! I'll just fix whatever I want and hope for the best!" He started raiding the kitchen. He pulled out hash brown stuff, French toast stuff, some extra eggs, biscuits and bacon. Then he really got down to business. About 3 more pans later, he realized he'd gotten himself in over his head. He knew how to cook everything singly, but trying to flip the French toast while the bacon was burning and probably the eggs as well and there was just too much to do! "Ahhh whhhhyyyyy?" Even he wasn't sure what he was questioning.

"So this is where you went." Demyx nearly jumped out of his skin at the soft amused voice behind him. He turned with a smile that very closely resembled the sun as he saw Zexion, immediately latching onto the smaller nobody who staggered back into the range.

"ZexyzexyzexyZEXY!" Demyx might have been a little excited.

Zexion chuckled and gave him a quick kiss, but just as quickly turned him back to his food. "Let's not waste it." He had Demyx just focus on the French toast while he salvaged the rest. A half hour later they had an impressive amount of food spread out before them. It wasn't even burned too badly. Aside from the bacon, they'd had to just make a new batch of that.

There was a dining room, but it seemed a bit big and empty for just the two of them so they decided to just load up their plates and return to the couch. Zexion slipped into one corner while the blond cuddled up next to him. It made it a bit awkward to eat but Zexion didn't seem inclined to say anything. Demyx was grateful, but he was too busy sating the growl in his stomach at first to express it.

Once he no longer felt like his stomach was going to eat him out from the inside he put his plate aside. Zexion was barely a fourth of the way through his own plate; his slowness was near to driving the nobody crazy. "Zexxyyyy."

The smaller nobody tilted his head slightly, keeping a calm expression in the face of that distinctive whine. "Yes Demyx?" He took another dainty bite, chewing slowly.

Demyx stayed silent for a few moments before he pulled out a pout, waving one of his arms in frustration. "Why are you eating so slow?!"

Zexion tilted his head the other way, looking just a little amused. "Is there a reason I shouldn't be?"

Demyx shrunk down a little bit. "W-well…" He had to actually think for a moment, instead of just acting on his emotions. Ferreting out the sources could be challenging sometimes. "Uhm…" He flushed and gave up on thinking, throwing himself at Zexion, who somehow managed to get his food out of the way. It floated onto a near-by table while Demyx pinned the other to the side of the couch. "Because I can't take it anymore!" His pout was mixed with a determined expression.

"Oh?" Zexion raised an eyebrow, not resisting the position he was stuck in. "Might I remind you that you were the one who was trying to make breakfast in the first place?" This did give Demyx a bit of a pause, but in the end his need was greater than his desire to have Zexion eat the meal he sort of made for him.

Demyx kissed the nobody under him very seriously, his hands around the others wrists tightening and loosening under the onslaught of emotions within him. He savored the kiss, slipping his tongue out to brush against the lips pressed against his before slipping inside to tangle with the others tongue. For a while, it was enough.

When they were both decidedly in need of some air the finally broke apart, panting lightly. Demyx pressed close against the other man, touching as much as he could at once. It was unusual for Zexion to be the one shivering under him. It brought out such an upwelling of emotion that he didn't even think as he whispered into Zexion's ear. "I love you."

He didn't know what reaction he was expecting, but the one he got was a shock. Zexion immediately went stiff, his eyes that had been half closed with pleasure suddenly snapped wide open and somehow the little nobody summoned the strength to shove the blond not just off him but several feet away. He looked very wild in that moment. "What are you talking about?!" His voice cracked slightly. "We are nobodies! We _**cannot**_ feel such things!"

Zexion found himself standing without any recollection of how that had happened. "You- you…" He was panting heavily, feeling very confused. He vaguely remembered Demyx whispering something to him, and then everything was just a painful mix of black and red in his mind. "Ugh…" He put a hand to his head, a horrible migraine coming on. He had to calm down.

A sob brought Demyx back into his awareness. His eyes focused on the blond man who had not moved from where he'd landed when Zexion pushed him. He had his knees pulled up to his chest, sobbing as hard as he could. His face was just utterly devastated. Like Zexion had reached in and pulled his heart out once again.

Zexion felt much the same at the sight of that broken expression. All he could think of was '_what have I done_?' For once in his life, he had no words. He had no plan. He didn't know what to do. What could even begin to make up for, let alone heal, the horrible damage he had just done to Demyx? He wanted to run. He didn't want to see that face any more. He didn't want be reminded, to feel overwhelmed like this. To feel the blades cutting him to tiny pieces inside from the guilt.

He felt wetness roll down his cheek. A second shock hit him as he reached up to determine that those were tears. He was crying? He took an unsteady step forward, then another, until he finally fell down onto his knees next to Demyx. He wrapped his arms around the shaking form, feeling his own tears fall freely. "I'm sorry Demyx." He could feel the other nobody shrinking from him but he refused to let go. He sensed somehow that something horrible would happen if he did not hold onto him right now. "I'm so sorry…"

He kept on speaking, feeling that his tone was almost more important than his words right now, like Demyx was an animal or something. "I've been so horrible to you." He moved closer and rested his head against the others. "All this time my own denial was keeping such a high wall between us." He was struggling to find the words, to keep talking so he wouldn't lose this most important person. "I've hurt you time and time again, in my obsession. My anger. I lost sight of what was most important to me." He tightened his arms around the other, afraid that he might experience the rejection he had just dished out. "I was always putting off 'us', telling myself I would deal with it later, when I had the time, when everything was done. I took for granted your presence at my side forever." He had to stop while he worked around the lump in this throat.

He swallowed hard and tried to calm down just a little. "I didn't realize your suffering-" He cut off and coughed. It was so hard to breathe. "I was so caught up I didn't understand just how much I needed you." He hesitated for a few moments before slowly coming in for a very soft kiss. "I viewed my emotions for you as a threat…but no more. I...I can't…be without you. You've been my strength all this time." He forced the rest out before he could lose his nerve. "I love you too much. I love you so much I don't know what to do with myself!" Other emotions started to swirl within him. "It's just…I don't understand…" Now that he said it, his mind was rejecting it. Trying to rationalize it away, but it should know by now that these emotions were not banished so easily.

Demyx had cried the entire time he had spoken, and was still crying, though he thought perhaps it had eased somewhat now. Zexion was starting to get worried at the lack of reaction. Demyx was always so expressive and quick to change emotions. He didn't know what else to do, so he simply held on to the other and hope for the best.

Finally, he heard a very soft and sniffly, "Z-zexy…" Zexion immediately came out of the half daze he'd drifted into waiting. "Ze-" More sniffles and sobs. "How…" He couldn't seem to finish his sentence, but he did very suddenly turn and very nearly crack Zexion's ribs with the force of his hug. "I've been waiting…so long…it hurts so much!" For months he had been taking blows to his heart that would have broken most other people. He felt rather broken. He hurt so much still, but just a little tiny part of him felt a little better.

The two of them stayed wrapped around each other for a long time. Each had a great deal of pain to deal with. It was hours before they were both done crying. Then they simply held onto each other and slept.


	17. Chapter 17

This time, Zexion was the one to wake up first. Almost immediately the ache in his chest returned. He had a feeling it was going to be there for a while. He could only hope to ease the matching one in Demyx. He didn't move until the soft blue eyes in front of him flickered open. He managed a small, sad smile for the other. "Good morning."

"M-morning Zexy…" There was a marked hesitancy in both of them. They didn't know how to act around each other anymore. So much pain had been caused and they both were afraid of what might happen next.

Zexion felt a twisting at that but he resisted the impulse to kiss or otherwise physically bring the other nobody to relax. He felt that would be a bit too much too soon. "Hey…how about we see if there's anything still worth eating around?"

Demyx blinked a few times; as if that was the most left-field question he could have asked. A few seconds later they both heard a distinctive rumble, echoed by a somewhat milder one from the other nobody. The abortive breakfast was forever ago, in stomach time.

They matched gazes for a moment before breaking out in soft laughter. "I guess that's a good idea." Demyx rubbed the back of his head sheepishly before disentangling himself. Zexion felt a strong reluctance to let the other nobody go, but he restrained the urge to cling and make sure he could never run away.

They walked side by side down the hallway, close but not quite touching. Once they arrived in the kitchen they gave the remains a brief going over but it was pretty obvious that nothing was really edible anymore.

"So uh…what do you want to eat?"

Zexion wanted to curse at the nervousness in that question. "I don't care what we have." He went over to the fridge and peered into it. "So what would you like me to make?" Breakfast wasn't a big start in paying Demyx back, but it was better than nothing.

"Uhm…" The blond looked down at his feet. "How about some waffles?" He ventured a weak smile.

"Alright." Zexion shut the fridge door and started pulling out the waffle mix. "Do you want any fruit with it?"

"Fruit?" Demyx blinked and tilted his head. "Ah…some blueberries perhaps?"

"Sounds good." Zexion managed a warmer smile this time as he pulled out some blueberries and added them to the mix. He preferred strawberries but he didn't hate blueberries either. And even if he did he'd eat them and enjoy it if that's what Demyx wanted.

He mixed the batter with practiced efficiency. Waffles were kind of his specialty, as far as breakfast foods went. Once that was taken care of, breakfast was made almost before they realized it. A good waffle-maker really smoothed over the process. Zexion tossed a few more blueberries along with some whip cream on Demyx's plate before handing it over.

He took his own and by some mutual unspoken agreement they decided to just eat in here. There was a not-quite-uncomfortable silence while they ate which continued as they cleaned up afterwards. "Zexy…" Zexion startled a bit as he felt strong arms drape over his shoulders. He half turned to see the others face, still somewhat worried. Demyx's expression was a mess of emotions. The hurt was still there, along with a strong neediness and several other things he couldn't define.

"Demyx?" He blinked and tilted his head a little as the blond buried his head in his shoulder. "Dem?..." He wanted to ask if he was alright, but that seemed a bit of a stupid question really. There was silence for a while. Zexion noticed a bit of dampness form on his shoulder so he gently put his arms around the other, patiently waiting for Demyx to be able to verbalize again.

"Zexy…" Demyx finally lifted his head, rubbing away the after-cry gunk. "W-would you read to me for a bit?..."

Zexion shook off his surprise. "Of course, whatever you want." He smiled and let Demyx pull him close as they walked, resting his head against the blonds chest. His lover really was too sweet. Already willing to forgive, if not forget, so quickly. Or at least make the motions towards forgiveness, he felt it would not be quite as quick and easy as being close together and reading a book.

The library was only a couple doors down, occupying the corner of their not so little abode. It was a 3 story library, though most of the books there were just illusions at the moment. It was one thing to create dishes out of the nothingness, it was another thing entirely to put together books. Those were too detailed and unique for such crude methods of creation.

Zexion gently guided Demyx towards the two bookshelves of his personal collection. "What would you like?" Demyx stared at the bookshelf blankly until one particularly interesting cover caught his eye. He snagged it off the shelf. It was some sort of fantasy novel pertaining to remaking old stories by the looks of it. He handed it over to Zexion. He didn't really care what was being read anyway. His attention span usually didn't last past the first couple of pages.

Zexion took the book and then lead the way to one of the loveseats scattered around the library. Once he sat down Demyx arranged himself in a slightly odd fashion, his head placed on the schemers lap while his legs hung off the seat arm. It didn't seem particularly comfortable to Zexion but Demyx seemed content enough.

Of course, just as he was about to start reading, Demyx changed his mind and abruptly sat up, swinging his legs over and scooting up close to Zexion so he could rest his head on the others shoulder. Zexion couldn't help a little chuckle.

Demyx responded with a pout. "Hey, it looked good in my head okay!" For a moment, it felt like nothing had happened. Zexion smiled that special smile and Demyx felt his heart stop. That which he had been missing for months, which he thought he'd never see again.

"Silly." Zexion shifted so they were both leaning against each other comfortably and then started to read. Demyx sighed happily and closed his eyes, letting the soft voice of his lover wash over him. He wouldn't be able to tell you the main characters name when it was over, but thankfully no one ever asked.

A few hours later Zexion's voice was starting to give out. He hadn't thought to bring anything to drink with them so he was surprised it had lasted this long. Demyx was in a light doze but the lack of background noise slowly brought him out of it. "Zexy?" He lifted his head to look worriedly over at the smaller nobody.

Zexion cut him off before he could get too worried. "It's nothing Demyx, my throat is just a little dry." The rasp in his voice made them both wince, Demyx's expression turning from worry to guilt.

"I'm sorry Zexy, you should have stopped earlier!" He jumped up, ready to run and get some water or something. He was stopped by Zexion's hand around his wrist.

"Demyx." He fell silent and both of them were struck by how much this looked like when Demyx had rescued him from Castle Oblivion, so very long ago. Zexion looked up from their hands to meet Demyx's eyes, silently apologizing yet again for all he had put this poor blond through.

Demyx wouldn't stand for that sort of sad expression on Zexion's face. He turned back to fully face the Schemer and leaned down to kiss him, mimicking his actions before in the living room. He could feel the hesitancy from the smaller man and wouldn't stand for that either. His hand slid down the other nobodies side before moving inwards where he quite deliberately groped him, eliciting something between a gasp and a groan from the recipient of his attentions.

Demyx took his time. Before whenever they would make love it was almost always a quick clash of passion. He intended to have today mark something different. He broke the kiss after a short while and started slowly kissing and licking his way down one side of Zexion's neck. He almost expected to be stopped when he eased down the zipper on the others coat, or alternately have Zexion suddenly come to life and flip them into their more usual positions.

The Schemer did neither. He seemed content to hide his hands in the blonds' mullet, working his fingers in ways that made Demyx shiver. The only thing he loved more than having those hands in his hair was having them- lower.

He finally finished his unzipping, pushing the two sides apart so his hungry hands could explore every inch of the small form he loved so much. The thin shirt Zexion wore under the coat was hardly a barrier. They enjoyed that for a while, in which time Zexion somehow managed to sneak Demyx's coat open and grab him in such a way that threatened both his control and his budding dominance. At which point Demyx grabbed both of the thin wrists in his much larger hand and secured them against the back of the couch.

Demyx couldn't help an impudent grin at the slight look of surprise on Zexion's face. He leaned down to nibble on the others ear, licking around the edge and causing a strong shudder in the smaller form. "Na-uh, it's my turn." His free hand moved downwards and started removing Zexion's pants while their mouths pressed together once more, in a battle this time. They seemed determined to suck the life out of each with their tongues, at least until Zexion made a dirty move and actually bit him. Lightly.

"Ow!" Demyx pulled away with a pout. "Zexy how could you?!" Since Zexion was pretty much exposed and at his mercy right now he decided to take his revenge. He slipped back and off the couch, pulling Zexion up and onto his shoulder while he headed out and into one of the bedrooms he'd seen in his initial explorations.

"Dem-?" Zexion was trying to speak around heavy breaths, trying to ignore how a certain part of him was rubbing against the others chest. Demyx simply chuckled and turned into the room, dropping Zexion onto the bed and sitting on the most torturous spot possible while he proceeded to rip Zexion's shirt into strips. "Dem-Ah!" Demyx pointed shifted on top of the others groin, sending spikes of pleasure up his spine. The distraction was enough that Demyx found it no challenge to then tie the others hands to the headboard.

He smiled at the set up proudly, like a child who'd succeeded in a task for the first time. It looked ridiculous and yet very Demyx. Zexion managed a weak chuckle. "You don't think…this is enough…do you?" He wasn't quite as intimidating as he could be, panting so heavily.

Demyx stretched out over him, giving him a quick kiss. "In any other situation." His hand tickled its way down while Zexion grit his teeth. "No." Another gasp escaped the smaller nobody as he squeezed the others shaft. "But maybe like this." He continued his torturing of Zexion with one hand while he mouth eased its way downwards, until he was licking around the base of the others shaft. He'd seen flickers of illusions forming along the way down, but as expected Zexion wasn't concentrating so well while being pleasured.

Demyx felt a little hesitancy come on then. He'd gotten a fair few blow jobs from Zexy, but this would be a first trying to give one out. He registered a dark chuckle from above him. "Done already Demyx?" There was a threatening rumble through the room. Demyx gathered up his courage and quickly put the others member into his mouth, sucking hard and hearing the rumble fade away into a groan. This encouraged him to try more, his confidence growing with every groan and gasp of his name Zexion uttered.

A change in pitch alerted Demyx to Zexion's impending climax. He pulled away then, glancing up into an almost murderous set of blue eyes. That was almost enough to send him running in the other direction, but his own need was great and he was determined to finish what he started. He wasn't entirely sure Zexion wouldn't bite his fingers off right now though so he coated his own fingers and eased them into the other. He tried to be as gentle as he could but he didn't miss the soft hiss from his lover. He took extra-long to prepare Zexion, only torturing the other nobody more but he considered it a necessary evil.

Finally, he heard only pleasure in the others voice and gave in to their mutual need. He pushed into the other quickly, wincing at Zexion's hiss but starting to thrust in and out immediately. All this time had been only slightly less torturous on him than Zexion and once he felt himself being practically sucked in there was no stopping the almost punishing pace he set. With such a work up it was not long before he felt the nobody under him shudder and climax between them, nor for Demyx to follow, simply collapsing onto Zexion and knocking the breath out of him for a moment.

They were both wiped out. Demyx tried to stay awake, knowing that he should at least untie Zexion but both the emotional and physical ordeal had him unconscious before he had finished the thought.

The Schemer tugged lightly at his restraints and decided he didn't care enough to deal with them right now. It wasn't long before he followed Demyx into oblivion.

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A/N: So...Demyx. Who would have thought huh? lol I love it when characters just take over the story. Proper storyline development resumes next chapter. Assuming Demyx lets me.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: So, sorry this took a bit longer than planned. I was kinda horribly sick over the weekend so this got delayed a few days. This chapter is unbeta'd as usual so if you run into any mistakes or weirdness I apologize and feel free to let me know and I'll fix it ASAP. Lots of plot development in this chapter, which is a bit longer than usual as well, so I hope you enjoy!

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Zexion came back to awareness with a strong feeling of unpleasantness. He hadn't been this dirty in a while, let alone for so long. He grimaced and nudged the other nobody with an elbow, which did nothing of course. He should know by now that waking Demyx took some serious effort on a normal day, let alone post-sex.

He considered his options for a moment, becoming aware of the soreness in shoulders. He really should have taken care of that before he went to sleep. "Fire." He murmured softly, concentrating it on just the material. He lowered his arms then and sighed, moving his shoulders and trying to ease some of the ache. "You big lug." He could decide if he was irritated with Demyx or not.

Regardless, he had to have a bath. Right now. An almost evil grin came to his face as an idea occurred to him. A dark portal swirled beneath them and they fell through into the ocean. "AHHHOHMYGO-" Demyx came awake quite abruptly as they struggled apart and then up to the surface. Zexion had been prepared but his lover was coughing and hacking as he tried to get the last bits from his lungs. Once he could breathe normally he turned a wounded look on the Schemer who was just wading nonchalantly a few feet away. "Zexy!"

Zexion cut off his complaining immediately. "You tied me up, and then left me that way all night."

Demyx recoiled a bit and slumped down into the water. "A-ah right…uhm…about that…" He glanced warily at the other nobodies face, trying to decide just how displeased he really was about it. Demyx couldn't read him at all. "Uhm…" He really didn't know what had come over him.

Zexion couldn't stand it any longer, one corner of his mouth twitched up in a rebellious half smile. "That's enough." He swam over and stole a quick kiss before levitating them out of the water and into another portal. This time they came out in the shower. They kept to business, just cleaning up and getting out. They walked out of the bathroom into a different bedroom than the one they had been in before. This one was much larger and extravagant. It also had clothes for them as Demyx discovered.

"When did you do all of this?" This place was certainly not a day or two of work, even if Zexion had experience building things out in the nothingness. And not just building, but finding time to move their personal items here!

"Shortly after I became Axel." Zexion didn't even look over from his dressing.

Demyx blinked and shook his head. They really didn't call Zexion the Schemer for nothing. Sometimes Demyx wondered if he could see the future sometimes, he planned so thoroughly. "So…why is it so big?" This was far more than just the two of them needed.

Zexion finished dressing and sat down on the large bed, giving Demyx a meaningful look to get a move on. He had completely forgotten about actually getting dressed. "Because this will be our new base, with all those members that will remain."

Demyx frowned, hoping around on one foot as he attempted to pull his pants on. "Base?"

Zexion raised an eyebrow. "You didn't think that we would just be able to leave this realm and live as normal humans did you? We are still nobodies, the realm of light is not for our existences." His eyes turned distant. "There will still be much to do once we are done setting things straight."

Demyx held still for a moment to finish getting his pants on. As soon as that was taken care of he turned to his lover with a determined frown. He'd has this argument with just about everyone at this point, but this time he was not about to back down. "Zexion." He moved over and put his hands on the smaller nobodies shoulders, looking down at him seriously. "I believe we could. Yes, we are nobodies-" He frowned somewhat. "or –were-." He knelt down so he was on the same level as Zexion and slid his hands up to the others face, cupping it tenderly. "You cried last night. Honestly cried. Though you deny it, you've been feeling more than just the shadows of emotions for a long time now!" He stopped whatever Zexion was about to refute him with, kissing him fiercely. He kept at it until he felt Zexion was sufficiently subdued and finally broke the kiss. He smiled into those slightly dazed blue eyes. "Don't you think something has changed? Maybe we aren't –people- but…we do feel, we do have hearts. Something close enough."

Zexion had a disagreeable frown on his face, but he wasn't speaking just yet. Demyx knew this meant he'd managed to step into the land of logic long enough to give Zexion something he couldn't just ignore. Of course, he was immediately distracted by how _adorable_ that frown was. It took everything in him to not throw Zexion back on the bed and repeat last night.

The silence dragged on for quite some time it seemed. Demyx wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not. He was afraid to break the silence, but his knees were starting to hurt like crazy. "Zexy…"

The darker blue eyes blinked slowly at the name and came back into focus. The frown on his face deepened. "I…will give it some thought Demyx." He shook his head at the bright smile from Demyx. "Anyway…that is something we can talk about later." The clear reluctance to admit that just _maybe_ Demyx was right made the blond sigh, but it was better than nothing. He loved Zexion's stubbornness, he just hoped it didn't involve Zexy walling himself away again.

Demyx pushed himself back up to his feet, hastily backing away as Zexion did the same. The look on his face was all business. "Well, we've dawdled around here long enough. Let us go see what has happened in our absence." Demyx ignored the flutter of excitement or something in his stomach and followed Zexion out the door. He glanced around and went a little pale as he noticed a staircase. Apparently the 3 story tall library was not just for show.

"Did...we really need 3 floors?" Demyx really did not understand how practical Zexion had gone and made such an extravagant place. Even with other members joining them, it was still far bigger than it needed to be.

Zexion paused for a moment and glanced back at Demyx with what might have been a hint of a blush on his cheeks. He mouthed something that Demyx couldn't make out and quickly turned away. "W-wait!" Demyx wasn't about to let it drop like that. Zexion blushing was not just extremely rare, but extremely suspicious. "You can't just look like that and say nothing!" He grabbed the others arm, turning him so they were facing each other. To his shock Zexion was now blushing like mad. Some niggling idea in the back of his mind started to form. "Did you…" He blinked a few times as the idea rolled around in his head. "You…you did it…t-for me?" He wanted to say 'to impress me' but that just sounded…well he felt like he might get hit for that.

The scowl on Zexion's face was all he needed for an answer. He flung his arms around Zex and gave him one of those bone crushing hugs. Zexion was fuming of course. "Let go of me you big oaf!" He hissed angrily and squirmed. Demyx reluctantly let him go, but that did nothing to dim the smile on his face. He had a feeling today was going to be a good day.

The smaller nobody pulled away and grabbed the blonds' hand, pulling him through a portal and muttering things Dem probably didn't want to understand. They came out in Hollow Bastion, looking out over the battlefield they'd left before.

"So, you finally emerged." The smooth voice behind them made Demyx jump.

Zexion did not seem perturbed though. He turned around at the same time he let go of Demyx's hand, sizing up Luxord for several moments before finally speaking. "I figured it would be worthwhile to let things calm down first." Which was a total lie of course. They'd just been…busy.

Luxord let out a short bark of laughter. "Calm down is not the word you would use to describe it."

Zexion's eyebrow lifted slightly. "I take it things have been interesting."

"You could say that." Luxord scratched his beard absently. "Xaldin is dead."

"…Really?" There was just a hint of disappointment in Zexion's voice and both of the blonds couldn't help but give him curious looks. The smaller nobody simply shrugged. "So, what else interesting has happened?"

"Well, we've got Kairi locked up in the dungeon. The real Axel is doing well at eluding capture so far." Luxords mouth quirked up into a small smirk. Zexion didn't even bat an eyelid at the jab, though Demyx looked somewhat surprised. He hadn't even been aware that Luxord had come over to their side. He felt a little hurt that Zexion hadn't told him, but then Zexion had to have his plans dragged out of him unless he was currently using you for a part of it. Even then, you knew only what was necessary.

"Yo." Three pairs of eyes searched the area around them, coming to rest on a wild redhead strolling out of a crevice. Luxord looked somewhat amused, while Demyx stepped protectively in front of Zexion. The smaller nobody didn't seem surprised to see Axel, but then he'd probably smelled him coming.

"Hello Axel." Zexion put a reassuring hand on Demyx's arm. He then stepped next to the blond, tilting his head ever so slightly and giving him a sweet smile. "You seem to be doing well." All 3 of the other nobodies shivered. Sweet smiles did not belong on Zexion's face. It spoke of danger.

Axel rubbed at his shoulders, trying to shake the chill he'd gotten from that expression. "Sheesh Zexion don't throw that face at me!" Demyx looked between them nervously. "You'd think I came here to kill you or something." Demyx couldn't help but try to edge in front of Zexion again.

"Demyx." Zexion huffed at the blond irritably. "He's joking."

"But-" Demyx shot a suspicious glare at Axel, turning back to Zexion and getting shut down before he could even think about speaking.

"Relax. Once he actually tries to do so, then you can be protective."

"Oh come on guys." Axel rubbed the back of his head with a sigh. "I think me'n Zexion are pretty even at this point don't you think?"

There was a minute of silence before Zexion fixed Axel with a much more serious look. "So are you done with your reckless tomfoolery yet?"

Axel scowled at him. "Hey, waking up and finding out about Roxy was a bit of a blow okay! I wasn't thinking clearly…" He looked down guiltily.

"Hmp…" Zexion looked like he wanted to comment, but for some reason decided to refrain. "So what are you expecting to accomplish here?"

Axel stared at the ground for a few moments before looking up seriously. "I want you to help me get Roxas back."

Zexion nodded as if he expected nothing less, though Demyx looked a bit surprised. "And why should I do that?"

Axel's mouth tightened into a thin line. "I will do whatever you say, so long as Roxas is there with me." Demyx thought he saw the slightest smug smile on Zexion's face, but if there had been it was gone before he could be sure.

"Are you sure about this?" Zexion crossed his arms and watched the redhead carefully. "Aside from having no idea what I am going to do you also don't know if Roxas will want to stay with you. Remember, he left you before."

"He left _the organization_!" Axel growled, sweeping an arm out to emphasize his point. "If it wasn't for Xemnas he would have never left!"

Zexion chuckled softly. "There is that. However, what about the fact that has now joined his somebody? Are you really going to take that away from him?"

"Roxas doesn't need that heart." Axel had an almost confused expression on his face. "I'm sure he has one of his own…" He tilted his head back to look up at the sky mournfully. "I think he shared that with me too…" Demyx couldn't help but flash Zexion a meaningful look, as if reminding him of their conversation this morning.

Zexion shared a dour glare between them both before shaking his head. "Right. Enough of that…talk." He glanced towards Luxord for a fraction of a second before nodding to himself. "Well, having ascertained your determination I accept your offer. Conveniently for you," Zexion chuckled. "You've already set the stage for the attainment of your goal."

"…What?" Axel stared at him like he'd just spouted a bunch of gibberish.

"You discount your own cleverness Axel. Your main problem was a lack of manpower, subtly and planning." Zexion smirked. "This time Kairi's kidnapping shall go smoothly and be used to its maximum advantage."

"So what do we do?" Axel asked simply.

"First, I am assuming the organization is still monitoring Sora." Zexion waited for confirmation from Luxord before continuing. "Very well. We will need to accomplish 2 main tasks then. One, we retrieve Kairi from the castle and install her in our base. Two, we locate Riku."

"Riku?" Axel frowned. "Why would you want to find _him_?"

Zexion shrugged. "He will be necessary to get what you desire. That being said, if what I believe is correct we will not need to search very hard to find him." He just smiled at everyone's curious stares. "You should pull up your hoods. It wouldn't do for them to know who they're dealing with just yet." He smiled at Luxord then. "Thank you for the information. I was surprised to see you instead of Xigbar."

Luxord smirked. "Xiggy's busy watching the kid." He opened a portal and turned around. "See you around then." And he was gone.

Zexion's smile immediately died into a cold expression. "Watch out for them."

"But…aren't they helping you out?" Demyx tilted his head in confusion.

"In theory. However I never told either of them that the other was in confidence. It is possible they simply found each other out but we cannot be too careful in this endeavor."

"Whatever. We can take 'em." Axel snorted dismissively and pulled his hood up. "Let's get this over with."

"You're crazy." Demyx muttered under his breath, pulling up his own hood.

"That's enough." Zexion's voice was only a little sharp. "Demyx, you're in charge of getting Kairi and getting her out. Axel you will be our guard."

"And what about you?" Axel raised an eyebrow.

"I will support as needed." The two locked eyes for several moments before the redhead nodded and looked away. "Very well then, let us begin this raid." He raised a hand and opened the portal, motioning Axel to go in first and Demyx to remain behind himself for the moment.

They emerged about halfway into the dungeon complex of the castle. Zexion figured Kairi would be near the entrance but he preferred to be able to examine the situation before throwing them all into it.

They crept through down the hallway and took a right heading up a few rows before pausing as they heard a familiar monologing voice. Saix was visiting the girl it seemed. Zexion turned his head to Axel, once again measuring just how determined the redhead was. The two had been friends after all. He saw no hesitation in the others posture and finally seemed somewhat confident that he could count on Axel not to freeze up. "I will lure him towards the library." Zexion murmured quietly. "Axel, you go ahead and get ready for him." Axel nodded and disappeared into his own dark portal.

"Demyx, as soon as he is out of sight run for the cell and get the girl. I will follow." He gave his best smile for the blond. Demyx was obviously very nervous. Zexion didn't have more time to comfort his lover though, it sounded like Saix was getting ready to transport the girl. He narrowed his eyes in concentration, an illusion of Axel stepping out of a portal on the stairs beyond them.

The illusion Axel froze as he saw Saix. "Shit." He muttered, going to open another portal out until he was surrounded by berserker nobodies. "Tch." He jumped up and over them, making a dash down the hall.

"It seems I have someone to deal with first." They watched Siax turn and walk calmly in the direction Axel had gone. Zexion held Demyx back for a few seconds after he was out of sight before leading the dash forward. Or starting it anyway, Demyx's longer legs quickly out distanced him.

The blond skidded to a stop in front of the cell, his eyes widening. "Oh man!"

Zexion caught up to him, glancing into the cell and his eyes widening slightly. "Namine." He hadn't thought they would actually throw her in this rescue effort.

The blond girl frowned between them, trying not to look nervous. "Zexion…" She glanced at Kairi, trying to motion her closer. "I thought you were dead."

Zexion chuckled softly, putting a finger to his lips to indicate she keep silent on that. "Rumors are often exaggerated." He held out a hand then. "Why don't you go tell that man the good news? I assure you we will take care of getting Kairi out of the castle." Demyx put a hand to the wall, causing the cell bars to dissolve.

Namine was not convinced. "Like I'll do that!" She grabbed at Kairi but snatched her hand back as lightning arced between them from Zexion's fingers.

"Ah, ah. That was _not_ a request." Demyx jumped forward at Zexion's nod, grabbing Kairi's arms and holding them behind her as he dragged her back towards Zexion, muttering a quick 'sorry'.

"I'll have you let her go." A firm voice growled in Zexion's ear just as he was slammed against the wall, a keyblade shoved in his face.

Zexion grimaced in pain but put on a smile as he saw who it was. "Ah, there you are. I was wondering when you were going to show up."

"Z-Zexy!" Demyx nearly let go of Kairi right there. He wanted to just dash over and rescue his lover. Zexion's cold stare stopped him but he shifted from foot to foot restlessly as he waited to be told what to do, well on his way to worrying a hole in his lip.

"And here I thought I was rid of you." Riku did not sound amused. "Now have him release Kairi or I'll finish the job."

"I think not." Zexion slammed the Lexicon into Rikus head, staggering him away while Zexion darted towards Demyx. "Stay close to Sora, you'll see her again soon enough!" He knocked Demyx through the portal he just made with the girl, setting off a lightning storm behind him to delay Riku as he dashed though himself.


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Finally! Another troublesome chapter out of the way. It didn't flow very well but hopefully you guys enjoy anyway. The big fun starts next chapter!

That being said, this chapter is dedicated to all my reviewers, but in particular Emeralden Rapley and Pantamalla who have kept my motivation and inspiration high(ish). Thanks so much you guys!

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Axel tapped his finger impatiently on his chakram, anxious to get this fight over with. Why was Zexion taking so long? Just as he was going to open a portal back and see what the hell had happened a perfect replica of himself darted around the corner, followed by several Berserker nobodies. A wild grin formed on his face. "Now we're talking!" The replica vanished as it ran through him and the 4 nobodies following it went up in flames as his chakrams sliced through them.

A slight whistle in the air gave him the warning he needed to fling himself to the side, catching his chakrams just in time to catch the beastly blade of his old friend. "You're rusty, Axel." Saix observed as if this was just another training session between them. It reminded him a little of when they were still friends.

"Don't worry. I'm still plenty capable of kicking your ass." Axel smirked and unleashed a vicious kick towards Saix's middle, knocking the other man away while he jumped back to gain some more distance before sending his chakrams spiraling towards the other.

Saix knocked them away with an expression of scorn. "You're wasting your time. You were never able to beat me." He raised that claymore as if it weighed nothing and shot forward ridiculously fast.

Axel had already moved. He knew how his friend fought. The area behind him shook with the force of the impact while he darted down the hall. The whistling alerted him again and he simply dropped down while Saix flew over him at top speed. He jumped up and flung his weapons again, one clinking off the blade brought up in defense while the other just managed to sneak by and slash the berserkers arm.

Saix's eyes seemed to glow then and Axel braced for the real fight to begin. "That little know-it-all had better hurry up." He growled under his breath. The next few minutes were hectic. Axel kept the fighting either just short of hand-to-hand range or very long distance, where his smaller weapons had the advantage and he was less likely to be beat into a pulp.

Axel was starting to wonder if Zexion had actually run into some problems about the time he was getting peppered with rubble from the wall that had just been demolished about two inches from his head. He was just a fraction too slow getting out of the way and cringed as Saix slammed him into the demolished wall. He guessed he was rusty after all.

The two men stared each other down. "It was rather foolish of you to return to the castle Axel."

If he didn't know better, Axel would say that Saix was amused. "You really just don't get me do you?" Axel 'tch'ed and narrowed his eyes blasting the other nobody away with an explosion of fire. He then took off. He'd had enough of this fight. He'd find Zexion and figure out what the hell had happened.

"Let me go!" Demyx winced as the struggling girl managed to kick him.

"Oh come on, we're not gonna hurt you!" Demyx had a decided whine in his voice as he dragged her after Zexion. He was relieved to know their base didn't have a dungeon, but that did mean they had to improvise where to put the girl.

"Here, this one will do." Zexion opened the door to a sparsely furnished bedroom.

"Oh thank goodness." Demyx muttered as he dragged Kairi inside and released her, jumping back in case she had the idea to kick him again. He held his hands up in surrender at the hot glare she fixed on him. "Don't look at me like that, there's no reason to get so worked up…" He continued to back away warily while Zexion tried very hard not to roll his eyes.

"Demyx…" His tone spoke volumes before he sighed softly, fixing the angry girl in the room with a cool stare. "He is right. We have no intention to harm you."

Kairi eyed him with disbelief. "Then why did you kidnap me too!" This was the third kidnaping in as many days. No wonder she was grumpy. "You're just after Sora too aren't you!?"

Zexion smirked. "You are…partially correct." He took Demyx's hand and pulled him the rest of the way out of the room. "We can speak more at another time." He shut the door and locked it, shaking his head.

"So, why did we need to grab that demon?" Demyx had a pout on his face. He didn't like being kicked or yelled at.

"Just as she said." Zexion shrugged. "If you have her you can lead the keyblade holders around by their…" He made a depreciating noise. "Anyway, let us extract Axel from the castle."

"If this was part of his plan I am going to kill him!" Beserkers were everywhere. Axel couldn't get a second of peace to open a portal. Not that he had any idea where to go if he did have the chance. He was now two floors up and on the other side of the castle, but it seemed like every lesser nobody in existence had been sent on his trail.

"Not quite." Shards of ice shot in several directions at once as a familiar form stepped out of a portal. A taller figure followed and with all 3 of them the tide finally slowed. "Things simply took a bit longer than expected." Zexion scanned the area for any other members before motioning to the portal. "Now come. Hurry." He waited for the other two to enter first. Saix arrived just as he was about to step into the portal. Though he knew Saix couldn't see his face under the hood, he felt like their eyes met and exchanged hostility. He couldn't help but chuckle as he stepped through the portal, waving cheerfully and shutting it down as soon as he was through.

"Zexy!" Demyx tackled him as he finally emerged.

Zexion sighed softly, shaking his hood down and frowning at his lover. "It was only a few seconds Demyx, I was fine."

"But…"

"Nice place you've got here." Axel had his hands behind his back as he strolled around the living room, taking in the long hallways on either side. "I never figured you for the extravagant type."

Zexion was proud of himself for mostly controlling the blush this time. He put on his best calm face. "I had my reasons."

"…Uh huh." Axel glanced over at the two, taking in the blond who was still very firmly attached and the schemer who was tolerating it. He'd known that they were together, but knowing and actually seeing the change was another thing entirely. "I'm sure you did." His dirty grin made Demyx blush like a cherry and even Zexion couldn't avoid a slight blush.

"How about you decide what room you want?" Zexion was both bribing and distracting the redhead.

"Sure, and you can fill me in on the way."

Zexion gave him a dour glare, unable to decide if that was a threat or an order and not liking either. "Remember who is helping whom here." He turned and headed down the right hall, skipping the first room which looked to be some sort of game room. Demyx followed just a step behind him with Axel trailing in the rear. "The bedrooms down here are roughly the same, just a few minor aesthetic differences for the most part." He pushed open a door to the first bedroom. It was pretty basic, aside from enjoying a large closet and its own bathroom like every other room in the place.

"Down here?..." Axel raised an eyebrow. "Man, when you fall you fall hard."

"And when you speak, you sound like you want to die." Zexion hadn't had such a dangerous aura around him in a while.

Demyx hastily edged behind Zexion and most importantly out from in-between the two. "H-hey guys…how about we go check out the ones upstairs?"

Axel glanced at Demyx and smirked. "Yeah, that's a great idea. Let's see the rest of your wedding gift to D-" An oversized lexicon slammed into him and he crashed into a wall for a second time today. "Ow…"

"It seems I was wrong to consider sparing your life." Zexion advanced on him threateningly.

"Zexy!" Demyx forgot his fear for the moment as he jumped in between the two. "Calm down he was just t-teasing!" His face was red once again, and he couldn't help wonder if Axel was a little too close to hitting the nail on its head.

Zexion stopped, still looking ready to kill. "Hmp…Fine. You can show him around then." Zexion turned around and headed back towards the living room, pausing after a few steps. "If you take one step onto the third floor Axel…I will kill you." Everything was silent as he walked away.

"Ehm…so…" Demyx chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head. He gave Axel an incredulous look as he started laughing. "What's so funny?"

"Him." Axel set his head back against the wall and rubbed at his eyes, already feeling tears of laughter forming. "He was always so controlled and now…" He shook his head. "Even when he was Ienzo he was not so…fiery."

Demyx just stared. He had no idea where Axel was going with that or what to say. His confusion only set Axel off more.

"You caught him so damn hard!"

Axel was talking about the excess of love in this place, but for some reason Demyx's mind went back to his strange behavior the day before. He flushed deeply and quickly turned away. "S-so let's go upstairs shall we!?"

Axel's laughter immediately quieted as he sensed a juicy secret. "Eh? What's the sudden rush Demdem?" He stepped around to see the others face, raising an eyebrow at that fierce blush.

"N-nothing I just want to make sure Zexy is okay."

Axel couldn't help but snigger at that pet name. It sounded too much like he was calling him 'Sexy' all the time. He again marveled at how Zexion actually tolerated having such a nickname. "Suuurrreee and it involves no kinky bondage or…"His eyes went wide. "Do you actually _top_ that prideful bastard?"

Demyx was red enough that he looked more like purple now and he was starting to panic. "Only once!" He snapped his mouth shut, cursing that he was so easily flustered.

Axel bent over laughing. "I can't believe it! This is too brilliant!"

"It's not that big of a deal!" Demyx whined, his brain finally catching up with the rest of what Axel said. "And Zexion isn't a bastard!" He was angry now.

Axel was still chuckling but he decided that pissing off both of his companions probably was pushing it a bit too far. "Yeah yeah." He bottled up his laughter and held his hands up placatingly. "I went a bit far there, sorry."

Demyx frowned, but he was way too soft to stay angry after an apology. "J-just don't do it again…" He muttered and led the other man upstairs. They went through the library rather than go through the living room and risk Zexion's wrath again. They both paused after Demyx opened the library door into the rest of the house. It had been muffled enough so they couldn't hear it until the door was open, but now there was the distinct sound of someone banging on the door and furniture crashing. Demyx rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Man that girl…"

"Isn't just everyone getting fiery?" Axel chuckled softly.

"Right…" Demyx edged past the locked door as if afraid it was suddenly going to attack him. "W-we don't need to see in that one." Halfway down the hall was another door to what Demyx was assuming was another bedroom. Opening the door proved this fact. Downstairs the beds had been fairly basic but the second floor bedrooms were more in line with the large one upstairs. They had queen sized 4-poster beds with all the amenities: large bathrooms, walk in closets, rooms big enough that half the room was styled like a mini-living room with couches and TVs.

"Is this really supposed to be a decision?" Axel rolled his eyes and strolled into the room. "It could use a little decorating, but I think I'll take this one." It was the middle front room as well, which appealed to him.

"Well uh…great. I'm uh…I'm gonna go find Zexy." He wished he could block out the sound of that banging, it was making him more jumpy than usual. "Crazy girl." He muttered as he ran down the hall towards the stairs leading up to the 3rd level. He had a feeling Zexion had retreated there.

Once upstairs Demyx hurried down to the door that led to their bedroom, noticing there was another doorway up here that he had no idea what was behind it. Considering the way Zexion had threatened Axel, he found himself nearly overwhelmed with curiosity. Zexion could have just not wanted Axel near their bedroom, but some nagging intuition told him that that was probably not it.

It was only with great reluctance he tore himself away from the other door and let himself into their bedroom. He spotted Zexion on the far corner of the room, curled up in one of those odd circular seats that looked so comfortable. He seemed to be deeply involved in the book he was reading but as Demyx stepped inside he lifted his head to meet the others eyes. "I take it he is settled then?" Even before Demyx had nodded Zexion was slipping out of the chair, moving surprisingly quick across the room and throwing his arms around the blonds' waist, pressing close against him.

"Zexy?..." Demyx looked down at him worriedly, wrapping his arms around the smaller nobody. He could feel the tension in the others body, so tense he was almost shaking with it. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know…" Zexion muttered miserably. "He's just…" Zexion grit his teeth and let out a frustrated sigh. It couldn't be a reaction from Axel trying to kill him; certainly he had gotten over that already. It was just that somehow…the redhead got under his skin without any effort whatsoever. It wasn't like Axel's teasing was so different from Xigbars. Or perhaps it was? Zexion dropped off into thought while Demyx got more anxious at the prolonged silence.

"Zexy?" Demyx queried again.

Zexion blinked out of his thoughts and gave Demyx a wan smile. "Sorry, I went off for a bit." The tension was gradually starting to drain out of him. He still wasn't sure quite why he was upset and he once again cursed how annoying emotions were but he could not wish them away anymore. He loved Demyx too much for that.

"So long as you're okay." Demyx hugged him tightly.

Zexion chuckled weakly. "I'm fine." He glanced towards the door, seeming to debate something. He had planned on waiting but something about Axel's prodding had him wanting to do this –now-. "Hey Demyx…do you want to see something real quick?"

"Uh, sure?" Demyx tilted his head curiously, surprised by the change of subject.

Zexion flashed one of those special sweet smiles and took Demyx's hand, tugging him out of the room and slightly down the hall to the door that was not-quite opposite to theirs. He hesitated with his hand just an inch above the doorknob.

"You don't have to show me if you aren't ready yet." Demyx murmured in a surprisingly understanding voice.

"No." Zexion pushed past his hesitancy and quickly shoved the door open, rushing inside and dragging Demyx with him. "Well there you go." He muttered quickly and with embarrassment.

Demyx didn't really hear him. He was too busy staring around the beautiful music hall surrounding them. It took up the entire back half of the house by the looks of it. The walls were lined with bookshelves, full of music books. _Real_ music books and not illusionary ones like in the library. Where there were no bookshelves there were huge windows, cloaked by beautiful navy blue curtains. Window seats adorned every other window. In the corner to the right of them, there was a grand piano, and a little farther up the same wall were a stand and a fine chair, for someone who wished to play a violin or the like. A third of the room was blocked off and when Demyx went to investigate (now pulling a subdued Zexion behind him), he found a room full of instrument cases, along with other music-related devices. "Oh…my." Demyx was overwhelmed, and obviously somewhat speechless. It took several minutes for him to shake his daze and turn to sweep Zexion off his feet, hugging him close and nearly crying with happiness. "It's wonderful!" He couldn't believe Zexion had done this all for him. He had never felt more loved.

Zexion squirmed a bit, blushing furiously. "I-it's…" For once Zexion was at a loss for words as well, so he simply wrapped his arms around Demyx's neck and enjoyed the closeness, finally shaking off the frustration from Axel earlier. They stayed like that for quite some time before Zexion reluctantly lifted his head from the blonds shoulder. "Dem…" He yawned a bit and shook the sleepiness away.

Demyx smiled beautifully at him and planted a soft kiss on his forehead. "I love you." He was so incredibly happy that he could say that without fear now. Zexion still flushed and shifted uncomfortably, but it was a start.

"Yo! Lovebirds! Where's the kitchen!" A scowl immediately formed on Zexions face. Axel hadn't actually come onto the third floor, but he had climbed mostly up the stairs and ruined the moment.

"…I guess it is about time for some lunch." Zexion sighed and squirmed until his lover put him down. They locked hands and headed out, closing the door carefully behind them. They joined Axel on the stairs and Zexion managed to not kill the redhead at any point in the next couple of hours.


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: So, here we go. Shits getting serious and I'm going to pull my hair out from trying to write the huge shit that's about to go down. So yeah, enjoy and rate/review please thanks a lot!

Also, I feel like this chapter kinda sucks so I apologize .

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"But why can't Axel do this!?" Demyx gave Zexion his best puppy dog look. They were standing in front of the door they had locked Kairi behind the day before. Now it was time for Zexion's plan to go into effect, and once again Demyx was charged with escorting the bitchy girl on the other side of the door.

"Because I have determined that this is the best course of action." Zexion crossed his arms and fixed his lover with a mimicry of his old cool expression. He was not about to be dissuaded from this.

Demyx visibly drooped but reluctantly stepped up as Zexion unlocked the door. The fool girl attempted to dart between them and Demyx barely managed to catch her before this turned into a 'chase her all around the house' rather than 'retrieve the girl' scenario. "LET ME GO!" Demyx grit his teeth and pulled the girl tight against him so she had less room to move around.

Zexion chuckled softly. "Soon, Kairi. We're going to see your friends right now." His smile at the girl was anything but sweet.

Kairi looked shocked for a moment and then started struggling harder. "No! I won't let you! I won't let you have your way!" Demyx groaned as she managed to get an arm free and elbowed him in the gut. He curled over as she dashed away. A few seconds later she collapsed on the ground, Zexion walking towards her with vicious eyes. A little kick to the shins, sure he would pass up that kind of damage to Demyx, but he wasn't going to tolerate her hitting him in places that could do some serious damage.

"Zexy?"

Zexion stopped and glanced back at the blond, who was still panting softly in pain but didn't seem too much worse for wear. His expression softened and he went over to hug the blond. "I'm sorry Demyx, I should have done that sooner."

Demyx shrugged and pet his lovers head, smiling weakly. "It was just an elbow, I'll be fine." He pulled himself free and went to pick up the girl, slinging her over his shoulder and managing a stronger, almost cocky smile then. "Ready when you are."

Zexion returned the smile, though his was much darker. "Yes, let us finally end this game." It had only been a year in the making. He lifted a hand and called the dark portal to life, going through with Demyx only a step behind.

They emerged in front of the tower in The World that Never Was. Currently, Sora and his idiotic companions were staring at it dumbly. Especially now that Zexion and his companions had shown up. It took a few seconds but Sora finally realized just who it was hanging over Demyx's shoulder. His eyes widened. "Kairi!" He took a step forward, stopped only by the warning in Zexion's face.

"I would stay there, if I was you." Zexion made a cruel mimicry of a sweet smile while Demyx shifted the sleeping girl off his shoulder to her feet in front of him. Zexion eased his sleeping spell somewhat and she opened her eyes, but they were unfocused, like she wasn't really all there at the moment.

"Kairi!" Sora shifted helplessly, unsure what to do. "What do you want?! Please let her go! She has nothing to do with this!"

Zexion couldn't help feeling a slight disgust. Saix really had broken the keyholder back there. "I think not, she still has a purpose to serve."

Sora's eyes narrowed and some of the spark returned to them. "And just what it that?! Your stupid kingdom hearts is right there!" He pointed viciously up into the sky with his keyblade. "I've done what you wanted so just give her back!"

"Ah" Zexion chuckled darkly. "But we" He stressed the 'we', meaning him and Demyx. "Do not have the same goal as that Beserker." He didn't glance behind him as he felt a swish of air behind him, followed by a clang of two weapons clashing and a gasp from Demyx. "Ah, so happy you made it Riku."

"R-Riku!?" Sora looked dumbfounded again as he stared at the two figures behind Zexion. They were both wearing organizational coats, one with their hood down the other freezing at the sound of his name, but still hiding his face.

Axel grinned at the glare he could feel coming off the other keyblade wielder. "Sorry, I've got someone I want back too." He didn't sound very sorry. "So be nice and do as Zexion says 'kay?" Riku disengaged their weapons and blasted him with some of his classic dark fire. He slipped to the side just enough to dodge it, but not enough to leave the other two nobodies exposed to attack.

"That's enough." Zexion turned slightly so he could watch both keyblade wielders, one hand on Kairi's head. "If you continue to fight him, I will fry her brain." There were several stricken gasps around him, even Demyx looked somewhat sick at his declaration. Reluctantly, two keyblades lowered.

"And just what _do_ you want then?" Another gasp came from Sora because that most definitely did not sound like his friend.

"Simple." Zexion gestured towards Sora. "Free Roxas."

"Ro…xas?" Sora blinked in confusion. "What the hell do you mean?!" He was angry again. "You all keep talking and NO ONE EXPLAINS ANYTHING!"

He nearly threw his keyblade at Zexion, but Goofy managed to grab his arm. "Don't! Remember Kairi!"

Sora deflated immediately, instead turning those sad eyes on the figure that Zexion claimed was Riku, who had not spoken yet. "Well?" His tone was both tired and bitter.

Riku remained silent, his head down. He knew what Zexion wanted and he was trying to find a way out of it. He could not get to Zexion fast enough to stop him if he really followed through with his threat.

Zexion didn't want to give him the time to think through the basic problem with hostage situations anyway. "How about this, I'll put a time limit on it." He smirked. "I'll start now, at a really low charge, and you've got about 30 seconds to get moving before I really do some damage to her." There was a slight crackle around his fingers and everyone except him and Axel flinched.

"STOP IT! WHATEVER YOU WANT I'LL DO IT!" As usual, Sora was quick to break.

The crackle increased somewhat in intensity. "Unfortunately, all you need to do is stand there while Riku here takes care of my request."

There was a soft growl, angry as it was pained. It was a cruel choice Zexion gave him, but in the end he could only stalk towards the confused and now somewhat frightened brunet. Sora could live without Roxas but Kairi would die if he did not continue. He dipped into the darkness he had accepted, summoning the dark keyblade he had not held since Ansem had dominated his body. "I'm sorry…" Before Sora could understand what was going on, he stabbed it into the boys' chest and turned.

There was a soft click and a bright flash of light that blinded everyone who was not prepared. When it faded, two smaller boys were lying on the ground next to each other: Sora whom everyone knew and Roxas. Donald was the first to make the connection. "T-that boy in the picture!?"

Zexion winced at that unpleasant squawk. Thank goodness he had not spoken before. "Yes. That would be Roxas." He glanced behind him, looking at Axel's stricken face. He wanted to run over, to finally touch his friend again, but rushing into the middle of the enemy did not seem prudent. Zexion felt empathy grind at his cold façade and finally he turned back to the group of mostly morons.

Riku was just standing there, staring darky down at his handiwork. "So." He spat bitterly. "Now that I've betrayed my friend again, how about you release Kairi!?"

Zexion pointed at Roxas. "Step away from him and the other boy." He pointed to a spot a good distance away. There were growls and mutters, but the three conscious ones moved. Axel was there in a heartbeat, snatching up the blond and returning to the safety of the other nobodies almost before anyone knew what he had done. Zexion chuckled softly and finally removed his hand, motion for Demyx to drop the girl.

Despite what Kairi had done to him, Demyx couldn't help but gently lower her to the ground, shrugging off Zexions curious gaze with a bright smile. They had actually done it, which was the important part.

"We shall take our leave then." Zexion opened the portal and his group quickly backed through, wary of Riku trying to take revenge. They all made it safely through the portal and breathed a soft sigh of relief. Zexion did not _like _dealing with Riku, as necessary as it had been. He may have brushed off Axel's attempt to kill him (with Repliku no less) but Riku was the one who had left him in such a vulnerable state in the first place. He shivered off the bad memories and instead followed Demyx's amused gaze to Axel.

Axel had placed Roxas on the couch and was gently running a hand through his hair, looking pathetically lovesick in a way that Zexion was _sure_ he had never been. Even Zexion couldn't help but smile a bit at such a touching scene though. It was hard to deny that they had something like a heart with the redhead was acting like that.

"Axel." The redhead reluctantly looked behind him at Zexion. "We can't wait for him to wake up, Xemnas is surely aware of our presence now. It is time to move."

Axel's eyes darkened but he nodded with a reluctant sigh. "Right..." He gently traced Roxas' jaw before standing up and cracking his neck. "Alright! Let's get this over with."

Zexion smiled faintly, looking at Demyx to make sure he was prepared as well. He looked a little nervous, but determination and love were in his eyes. He would not falter either. "Good." They all stepped through their own portals, though they all ended up in the same place.

As expected Xemnas was waiting for them, Saix at his side. The two groups face each other across the wide platform Xemnas used to observe his beloved kingdom hearts. "Ah, Zexion." Xemnas smiled that not-quite-there smile of his. "It's so nice to see your face again."

Zexion sniffed derisively. "Surely."

"This was all very unnecessary you know." The smooth voice washed over them but all Zexion felt was a burning desire to smash the Superiors face in.

"I'm sure in your opinion, it wasn't." Zexion kept his voice and expression impassive. "But clearly our opinions differ greatly."

Xemnas sighed, sounding like a disappointed father. "You could just forget it all." His hand swept towards the heart in the sky. "Rejoin us and get the heart that we have all been looking for."

Zexion chuckled darkly. "I don't need it." He met Xemnas' eyes challengingly. "I need neither your promised heart nor the lies that you have been feeding us all."

Xemnas raised an eyebrow before chuckling himself. "I see. Then your destruction is inevitable after all." He had not even finished his sentence when Saix leaped across the platform. Axel moved only a second behind him, the two meeting in the air in an explosion of fire and earth-shaking force.


	21. Chapter 21

A/N:So, here starts the fun. I honestly cannot describe how much trouble I had writing this chapter and how much I hate it. I feel like it's just a horrible chapter, and i'm kinda not happy with the whole bit at the end and going into that at all in the middle of everything else but...erg yeah. Hopefully you guys get some small enjoyment out of this. Except for lovers of a certain one-eyed pirate who will then probably want to kill me ^^;;

Oh, and thanks to my wonderful reviewers again, you really keep me going!

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Their chosen weapons appeared in the other 3's hands as they spread out. Zexion watched Demyx step forward and in front of him now, his protectiveness bringing a slight smile to his face despite the seriousness of the situation. He saw numerous water clones start to litter the field and quickly opened the lexicon, summoning up many illusions of them both. Immediately, both the illusions, clones and the real nobodies moved into action. A few stayed back and lurked around the edges of the battlefield. These were all illusions, meant to make one think they were the real things staying out of the fray. A much too obvious trick so the real Zexion and Demyx were now well mixed into the mosh in the center moving towards Xemnas.

Zexion was actually very close to Xemnas, having cloaked himself in invisibility and moved to the least likely spot to be. He tensed warily as he heard Xemnas laugh. "Well isn't it terribly crowded all of a sudden?" Zexion actually moved closer and slightly behind Xemnas then, avoiding the nothingness 'thorns' that spewed all over the battlefield now. He watched worriedly for Demyx, watching what he was doing and making sure the illusions of him acted sufficiently like him to keep him safe. Months of studying Demyx's style were all going to pay off here.

Many of the illusions and clones were being destroyed, but they made sure that more kept appearing. The water clones mobbed around Xemnas, forming into a tight ball in attempt to suffocate him. Xemnas immediately teleported out of course, and into a bunch of illusions he had not destroyed yet. Zexion hastily made them dance away, wincing as those glowing blades came within an inch of slicing into Demyx.

Of course Demyx retaliated immediately, jets of water shooting up from the ground and tracking Xemnas across the field while Zexion rained lightning on him from above. Xemnas wasn't affected at all but Zexion wasn't surprised. He knew it wasn't going to be that easy and this was just the warm up round. He spared a glance for the fight between Axel and Saix on the tower tops above them. It was hard to watch for long, bright alternating flashes of blue and red light left dots in his eyes.

Zexion decided removed himself from the battleground entirely, floating up and several feet away while all of the illusions of him now formed into copies of his Lexicon. His brow furrowed somewhat at the effort. There were a _lot_ of illusions, even for him, but this was no time to take it easy. While Demyx and Xemnas chased each other around the platform he wanted to monitor both of the battles going on.

He looked away from the fiery mess that was Axel going crazy on the roof to his lover on the ground. All things considered, Demyx was doing fairly well. When he got serious, Demyx could be a formidable opponent. Xemnas had his 'Ethereal blades' out and Demyx (and Demyx and Demyx and Demyx and Demyx and Demyx) was swinging that sitar around with ridiculous ease. Zexion took a deep breath and focused. The Lexicons which had been floating somewhat idly started to move around the platform, opening up and glowing with power. It looked like Zexion was getting ready to riddle the platform with magic when he felt something sharp, small and pointy pressed against the back of his head.

The dark chuckle would have given the identity away, even if the familiar hated stench had not. "Gotta give ya credit Kiddo, I hadn't expected this whole game to last thing long." Xigbar's tone was as grating as ever.

"I had a feeling it was you." Despite his not the best situation, Zexion sounded as calm as ever. "You always did have a _special_ relationship with Xemnas." He had to force himself not to say 'The Superior'. He couldn't believe after all this time that was still so ingrained in him. What he wanted to know was how Xigbar had found him.

"Eh?" Xigbar snickered. "You're too funny kiddo." The freeshoother tapped his shoulder with the other arrow-gun. "Now be a good boy and shut down the fireworks."

Zexion was silent for several moments before he realized what had happened. He had put just a hair too much power into the Lexicons and there was just a faint outline of him visible to those who were looking. Just enough for a certain sharp eyed nobody who had clearly been looking for just that sort of thing. He grimaced and let the light around his Lexicons dim as he quickly reviewed his options.

Demyx noticed the slight change and broke away from the illusions as he realized Zexion was in trouble. At that moment several things happened in rapid succession.

One, a small bright blur flew in out of the corner of his eye and there was a loud cry as said blur crashed into Xigbar.

Two, Xigbars gun went off and nearly took Zexion's ear off. (And Demyx's heart nearly stopped)

Three, a blindingly bright flash of light went off just a little above his head evoking cries of pain from everyone who was unprepared, which was everyone but Zexion of course.

Four, Demyx realized that Xemnas was right behind him and if it wasn't for his burning eyes Demyx would probably be dead right now. The water mage turned cold and quickly moved out of his vulnerable position, hoping he didn't run off the edge and hoping he would be able to see soon.

"Demyx." The blond turned automatically towards the sound of his lovers' voice, stumbling and gasping as he felt himself fall into empty air. A second later a pair of arms wrapped tightly around him and his decent stopped. "I'm sorry love, I had to work quickly."

The blond shook and clung desperately to the smaller nobody that he could almost make out around the red and orange that had overtaken his vision. "It's f-fine." He didn't stop shaking until he felt them both on solid ground. "But-" He head the slow steady steps that could only be Xemnas. He felt Zexion push him behind him, and for the second time in as many minutes he felt himself totter of the edge. His mind went blank with shock and fear, barely registering the odd sensation of going through a dark portal before he crashed unpleasantly on the ground, alive but a little worse for wear.

He looked around in confusion, still having a hard time making out too much. He was fairly sure he was in some part of the castle though. "Wait..." His eyes went wide, had Zexy decided to take on Xemnas alone?! "ZEXION!" He screamed, jumping to his feet and rubbing at his eyes desperately. He had to get back on that platform!

"Ah, so this is where he sent you." Demyx whirled around, squinting and finally managing to make his eyes focus on the form of Xigbar. Why was he here?

"How sweet." Xemnas smiled broadly at the smaller nobody standing a few feet in front of him. "You've truly sunk into the softer emotions a heart has to offer."

"A matter of opinion." Zexion held the floating Lexicon in one hand, doing a fair imitation of being bored.

"Really?" Xemnas' smile quirked to one side becoming a nasty smirk. "Then why did you push Demyx to safety while you stayed behind to continue an impossible fight?"

Now Zexion smirked. "You should know me better than that." He flipped his hair dismissively, even as huge white walls opened around them, in actuality a giant form of his Lexicon's pages before they were both enveloped in darkness.

Axel and Saix were not particularly blinded by the flash that got everyone else. They were father away and frankly they were half blind from their own fireworks as it was. Neither of them was holding back and from a distance their clash was probably an impressive show. There was only one problem. They were two evenly matched. Saix was doing his berserker thing and Axel had found his reason to put his all into a fight. Saix and Xemnas needed to die so he and Roxy could be safe.

There was finally a break in the fighting as Saix backed off to pant lightly, looking so much like a rabid dog that Axel couldn't help but chuckle. It was then he thought he saw some flash of brightness along the edge of his vision, moving along the roof as well. As soon as he tried to follow it though, it disappeared. His brow crinkled in thought, what was that? Maybe it was a stray spell from Zexion, but as he spared a glance for the platform he saw that no one was there anymore.

His heart clenched somewhat with worry, what had happened while he had been involved in his fight? He heard the sound of shifting weight and snapped back to attention as Saix flung himself across the space between them. He raised his chakrams and prepared to blast the shit out of him, only to have that bright flicker at the edge of his vision again. He barely had time to register it before Saix was abruptly going perpendicular to the direction he had been, crashing into the main part of the castle, a familiar keyblade pinning him where he was.

Axel stared stupidly at the now fading body of his old friend while the blur of light came to rest next to him. Except it wasn't light at all, but a very fast moving Roxas. He blinked several times, his still fight-oriented mind trying to process what had happened. "R-roxas?" Suddenly, he was nervous. They hadn't parted on the best of terms before, and him finishing Saix did not mean that he was helping Axel. Roxas had plenty of reason to hate the man himself.

The blond did not immediately look at him; he seemed focused on the fading form in front of them. Finally though, he heard that soft voice he had been dreaming about. "Hello, Axel." His tone was ambivalent, giving the redhead no clues to his feelings at all.

Axel smiled nervously and rubbed the back of his head. "So…it's been a while eh?"

There was a hint of blue as Roxas turned his head ever so slightly in his direction. "Yeah, it has."

Axel sighed lightly, thinking of Zexion's little act when he had come to kill him. Somehow, this was more awkward than that. How do you get more awkward than someone pretending to be someone else and then proceeding to try and kill you!? Wait… "Zexion!" Axel looked worriedly at the platform. "How long have you been here, do you know what happened over there?" They couldn't have all taken each other out could they?

There was an irritated huff and finally Roxas turned to face him, hands on his hips. "After all this time that's the best you can do? A couple awkward questions and you're suddenly yelling for someone else?"

Axel frowned. "Well, sorry if we're in a battle situation here and certain things are a bit higher priority than catching up!"

"Last I saw him, he was fine."

"What?"

Roxas gave him an irritated 'are you stupid?' look. "Zexion." He clarified. "He was fine, after I got Xigbar off of him."

"Oh." Axel blinked and glanced back over at the platform. "Where did he and everyone else go then?"

Roxas shrugged. "Xigbar vanished after getting hit with that flash bomb, and once I lost him I came over here. Zexion did something with his Lexicon, I don't know how you missed the huge giant book swallowing them up, and I don't know what happened to Demyx."

"Right…" Axel had the grace to look embarrassed. He got really involved in the fight, what could he say? "Well uhm…" So. Awkward. This was not how he envisioned their reunion at all.

"I'm sorry." Roxas wasn't looking at him now.

"Saywha?" Again, Axel was staring dumbly.

The smaller man shifted nervously and kicked at the ground. "I'm sorry…for leaving you and ignoring your feelings...and forgetting you." His voice was getting steadily quieter, but Axel picked up on one thing.

"Y-you forgot me!?" Axel was now hurt along with his great confusion. "W-when! H-how!?"

Roxas flushed immediately, but then something odd registered. "What do you mean, when? You were the one who told me!" Now they were equally confused.

Axel frowned. "What are you-" His eyes widened in realization. He had completely forgotten about that little tidbit. "Ohh you mean Zexion."

"What?"

Roxas' deadpan look was so adorable Axel almost lost his train of thought. "Uhm, well it's a long story, most of which I don't actually know…but there was a while there while I was out of commission and Zexion was going around pretending to be me."

"…Oh." The blond frowned, realizing he could have never said anything and the real Axel would never have known. Damn it. He stiffened as he felt the others arms wrap around him.

"I really missed you, Roxy."

Roxas shivered at the others warm breath on his ear. "I really missed you too."

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So there you have it. Please don't flame too hard at this utter suck of a chapter. Hopefully I'll finish all of this damn fighting in the next chapter, which I -may- get out this weekend. We'll see.


	22. Chapter 22

"You bastard." Demyx spat angrily at the smirking man standing several feet away. He could see the expression all too well as the bright colors faded from his eyes. "Zexion trusted you!" He just wanted to beat that smirk bloody because he was sure Xigbar would be smirking as he died. And he intended to see that asshole die.

"Wrong." Xigbar waved his arrow gun at the blond man chidingly, that expression only getting smugger. "There was never any trust between Zexion and I. We were both playing our own games, which just happened to include working together in some areas for a while." He dropped the gun on his shoulder and shook his head. "That naiveté of yours really is something else kiddo."

Demyx lifted his hand, sitar forming in its usual wash of bubbles. He never took his eyes off the one in front of him, the hatred in them telling Xigbar exactly how dead he was. "I don't care what you say. You attacked Zexion and that is unforgivable."

"Ohhh." Xigbar gave a mock shiver and chuckled. "Those are some good eyes Dem Dem." He pointed one gun at the blond. "You're going to need that seriousness to play with me." A shot went off at the same time he went flying towards the ceiling on a jet of water. He simply stayed up there, floating while Demyx knocked the shot away with his sitar, making it look easy. The nobody on the roof just cackled. This was going to be fun.

Splashsplashsplash! Demyx showered the room in water, using his sitar like a machine gun as he chased Xigbar around the room. They got into a rhythm almost, Demyx shot at him, he teleported away and shot at Demyx who dodged or blocked and then the process started again. Demyx quickly had enough of that and kicked it up a notch. Even more water sprayed around the room as he shot up in the cradle of his water jets, lifting him up and into range to do some serious damage to that grinning asshole who had dared point those guns at his beloved.

Xigbar had the grace to look surprised as that Sitar was abruptly in face and he went flying across the room. He dropped into one of his warps, landing on a platform overlooking the room they were fighting in and giving Demyx a murderous look. That had _hurt_. He wasn't playing anymore either.

Demyx turned his spouts to Xigbars' new location only to run right into a rain of bullets. Thankfully, his water slowed them down enough to not do too much damage but it was suddenly much harder to close in on the old man. He had to worry about stray bullets coming from everywhere it seemed like. He got a couple more hits on Xigbar after chasing him around the room for a good 5 minutes and this time he didn't let the other nobody recover. As soon as he landed that hit he pushed forward grabbing Xigbar by the throat and slamming them both into the ground, staring at him with a look that should have killed him alone.

The older nobody smiled nervously and raised his hands in defeat. "Hey now, no harm no foul. It's not like I actually hurt the kid." His grin faded somewhat as Demyx's grip only tightened.

"Do you think-" Swoosh! The combatants hastily separated in mutual self-defense as a third party entered the fray by way of his keyblade coming down for their heads. Xigbar vanished entirely while Demyx retreated to the platform Xigbar had been using earlier. His murderous expression was replaced with a more normal worried one. "H-hey there Riku…" He caught a glimmer of light behind him out of the corner of his eye and just barely danced out of the way of an angry looking Sora and farther back the determined looking devil girl. All three of them had keyblades and looked ready to use them. "So many!" He muttered to himself despairingly before raising his voice. "Oh come on guys it's not like we actually hurt anyone!"

Riku darted his way back up to where everyone else was standing and Demyx tried to not look like he wanted to faint at the amount of trouble that was going to come his way if he didn't get out of there soon. "Didn't hurt anyone?" Rikus' voice was like acid. "What do you call all those lives you ruined in your schemes to get Kingdom Hearts!?"

Demyx blinked a few times before huffing. "Hey, that wasn't our idea. We've only been pretending to go along all these months so we could be free!" His eyes narrowed then. "And damn it, I don't have time to deal with you guys I have to make sure Zexion is okay!" He turned around carelessly and dashed though a portal, not even caring if the mob of keyblade wielders followed him.

"Are you going to hide from me forever, my little Schemer?" Xemnas chuckled darkly as he strode through the seemingly endless darkness of the dimension Zexion had sent them too.

"Not yours." A tiny Ienzo appeared in front of him, looking just like he had that day long ago when Terra/Xehanort had come to the castle. "Never was." His child's voice was strong, determined.

Xemnas grinned, slowly moving forward to place his hand on the hand of that tiny boy, who quickly shook it off and took a few steps back, glaring. "Is that denial I hear, Zexion?" His tone was once again that of a chiding father. "I saw how you watched me, how you looked at me. You lied to your precious 'father' for me."

An older Ienzo appeared to the side and farther away, his arms crossed. "For my own curiosity, I did that. I always felt something off about you."

"You're one to talk."

The older Ienzo shrugged. "Strange environments produce strange children, do they not?" His expression was wiry.

"Hmp." Xemnas raised his arms and in the flash of a second both Ienzos vanished back into the darkness, cut to pieces. "Just what is the point to all this, VI?"

"Point?" The voice questioned from all around him. "They are memories, thoughts. There is no point to them, they simply are."

"And did you not bring me here to end this?" Xemnas questioned with amusement.

Zexion appeared in front of him now, but he could tell it was not the real one. "Is there a reason to hurry I should be aware of?" Just the faintest hint of a smile formed on his lips. "Surely the darkness isn't getting to you?"

"I am the Master of the Darkness." Xemnas eyed the copy scornfully.

"Correction," Zexion pointed upwards and the darkness seemed to bleed down around them, leaving behind a grayish landscape. "This is more your style, is it not? The Xehanort of darkness lives elsewhere."

Their eyes fixed, and even though it was not the real Zexion standing in front of him, a whole conversation occurred without anything more than the expressions on their faces. Abruptly, they both exploded into motion. Xemnas charged forward while Zexion rolled to the side, coming back to his feet as 3 different people.

Xemnas now faced off with Roxas, Marluxia and Lexaeus. The tall man stood at the ready as he surveyed the circle of illusions around him. He had a feeling one of them was actually Zexion this time, but who? His first instinct was Lexaeus since they were so close, but that was far too obvious for the little schemer. Marluxia seemed like the most unlikely choice, and thus the most likely choice so that eliminated him too. That left Roxas, who was too obvious in his own way. Xemnas couldn't help but chuckle, Zexion really was too clever.

As if the sound of his laugh was a signal his opponents drew their weapons in sync.

Lexaeus' expression was as serious as ever. "Have you-"

Roxas looked 'stormy', there was no other way to describe it. "Made-"

Marluxia had that despicable grin. "Your decision?"

Xemnas smirked, though inwardly his mind was still churning. All were viable and thus unviable choices. He _knew_ one of them was Zexion though. He had no more time to think as the formidable trio darted toward him. He let loose a flurry of his Twilight Thorns (I am…fairly sure those are what those are called) and the 3 scattered. Lexaeus jumped back and slammed his blade into the ground, a huge wave of energy that was joined by a pink ripple that was Marluxias'. Roxas was abruptly nowhere to be found.

Xemnas sent the energy rocketing back towards its owners with a rapid expansion of his invincibility shield. Marluxia darted out of the way while Lexaeus swung his blade and dissipated the energy with a dismissive grunt. And where was Roxas? Xemnas had a suspicion of just who his real target was now. The slight twinkle above him alerted him to Roxas plummeting down at him. He grinned and teleported out of the way, reversing their roles as he came down on the small blond, his blades piercing the small body easily and coming away with nothing but wisps of disappearing illusion.

Xemnas couldn't help another burst of laughter. Of course that was too obvious for Zexion. He knew better than to underestimate his opponent. The other two did not give him a chance to reassess his decision. Energy was flying at him from two directions, with Marluxia close behind. Xemnas didn't wait around, he teleported behind Lexaeus, making twin glowing lines in the air where the large nobody had moved out of surprisingly quickly.

The two exchanged several quick blows without actually landing a hit before Marluxia joined back in, filling the air with a storm of ridiculously dangerous rose petals. Which exploded. Xemnas was fairly sure that was new. He teleported away once again but not without suffering some burns. He shrugged them off like they were nothing. His form blurred and then there were two of him. "You're not the only one who can play that game VI."

One paired off with Marluxia, while the real him joined the fight with Lexaeus once again. The ground shook. Energy flew all over in the grey landscape, seeming to go on forever if it encountered nothing. Xemnas finally managed to out maneuver Lexaeus just as Marluxia blasted his clone to pieces. To his surprise and mild disgruntlement, his destruction of Lexaeus ended in the same way his attack on Roxas had. Nothing left but wisps of illusion.

He and 'Marluxia' turned to face each other. He had a wiry smile on his face. "Marluxia. I should have known."

Marluxia grinned and pointed his scythe at him. "Ironic, isn't it?" He raised his arms and suddenly the grey was blanketed in the black of seemingly thousands of Lexicon copies.

Xemnas narrowed his eyes and rushed at the remaining nobody. Before he had taken more than two steps his vision was filled with light as every Lexicon released its stored energy in a molecule destroying blast all centered on Xemnas.

Outside, on the platform there was a bright flash of light and a roaring sound. When everyone could see again there was one small nobody lying in the very center of the platform. He looked a lot like the last time he had been drained this badly. Demyx felt his stomach twist into a knot. "Zexion!" Ignoring the people who had ran through the portal after him he ran to his lovers' side, pulling him up and close to his chest. "Nononono you can't do this to me!"

Riku frowned and made to step forward, coming to a stop as Axel and Roxas landed in front of him their expressions declaring clearly that if he dared try to do anything it would be his last move.

Zexion pushed his eyes open with the very last dregs of his strength, smiling weakly at the blond above him. "Dem…" His voice was airy, like it was more thought than sound. He seemed to get paler, to the point of near transparency.

"Don't say anything!" Demyx clutched at him tightly, tears leaking from his eyes freely. "Save your strength!"

"What…" Zexion took several shallow breaths, amusement showing in his eyes. "strength…?" Even breathing was an effort for the small nobody now.

"You. Can't. Fade." Demyx gritted out around his teeth. "I won't let you!" He pulled Zexion's face up and kissed him fiercely, as if by that he could force his energy into the other. To everyone's shock, two matching pulses of light started up centered on where Zexion and Demyx's hearts should be. One was very faint and stuttering. The other was glowing bright like a sun and pulsing strongly. Within a few seconds the two lights started to pulse in sync and the faint one slowly started to get brighter and brighter until it seemed bright enough to continue on its own.

"What the-?" It was hard to tell just who said it; they were all watching the scene with complete confusion.

The two lovers eventually broke apart, the light fading away instantly. Zexion slipped down and rested his head on his lovers' chest, falling asleep almost immediately. He didn't look like he was in imminent danger of fading away anymore.

Demyx checked over him worriedly but the color in his cheeks seemed to reassure the blond enough for him to remember there were other people there. He looked up and blinked at the force of all the stares directed at him. "W-what?..."

"Dude, you just like…." Axel shook his head, at a loss for words.

The keyblade holders all exchanged glances, not sure what to make of the scene. These were technically their enemies right? It just didn't seem right to attack them after what happened though.

Demyx frowned at him, glancing past the redhead to the crowd behind him. His arms tightened protectively around Zexion and he shifted the smaller nobody around so he could carry him bridal style, coming up to his feet. "Xemnas is gone, so you guys can just leave us alone!"

Another silent exchange between the keyblade holders later and Sora stepped forward, pointing his keyblade threatening. "We don't necessarily believe you but we'll leave for now. If you do even the slightest thing wrong though we'll be back to take you all out!" With that they all turned around and headed back out the way they came.

"Well, wasn't that terribly reasonable of them." Axel snickered softly, only to pout at a slight smack from the small blond at his side. "What?!"

Roxas just gave him a glare before turning to Demyx. "We should get him back to that house. I don't want to stay in this place any longer." He hadn't run away only to end up living in the place again.

Demyx nodded, turning around and opening a portal to their room in the new base. "I trust you and Axel can get back." He stepped through without waiting for their answer. He relaxed immediately in the welcoming atmosphere of the bedroom Zexion had worked so hard to prepare for them. He set his lover down on the bed as if he was a precious porcelain doll.

Demyx straightened to survey his love once again, noticing burns and other wounds he hadn't before but Zexion's breathing was still strong. Finally, Demyx felt like Zexion really was going to be alright. He sniffed as tears of relief threatened, sliding next to his lover and wrapping his arms around him before burying his head in the others shoulder. He cried for a bit before falling into a tired sleep, content with his lover in his arms.

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A/N: So, there we have it. This fight scene that was giving me so much trouble is finally OVER! *dances* And I think it kinda turned out alright? Hopefully you guys enjoyed it a little at least. You guys'll just have to review and tell me how good/sucky it was neh? ^^ There will probably only be one more chapter after this as a bit of an epilog, but we'll see. Oh, and who knows why it was Ironic that Zexion chose Marluxia?~


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